On April 22, 2019, the kick-off meeting of STS Regional Key Project 'The Establishment and Demonstration of Corn Stalks Mulching & No-tillage Mode in Liaoning Province’ was held at the Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). About 30 people, including MA Yuehong, vice president of the CAS Shenyang Branch, SUN Zhanxiang, vice president of Liaoning Academy of Agricultural Sciences, LV Jie, vice president of Shenyang Agricultural University, leaders from Fuxin Science and Technology (S&T) Bureau, Tieling S&T Bureau and Liaoning Modern Agricultural Production Base Construction Engineering Center, as well as core members of the project (ZHANG Xudong, LIANG Wenju, CHEN Xin, etc) and leaders of IAE, attended the meeting. The meeting was co-chaired by ZHUO Junchen and SUN Zhanxiang.
FANG Yunting, deputy director of IAE on behalf of the institute, welcomed the experts and guests who came for the kick-off meeting. FANG pointed out that the STS project aims to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and promote the development of agriculture and ecological environment of Liaoning province. He hoped that all parties involved in this project should work together and put efforts into the smooth implementation of the project. MA Yuehong encouraged the scientists to contribute towards the needs of local governments, strengthening pragmatic cooperation, and deepening the exchanges with other institutes.
ZHANG Xudong, PI of the project, gave an outline of the implementation plan of the project. In view of the fact that vast of areas in Liaoning are characterized by low organic matter content, severe desertification, water water scarcity but high availability of light and temperature, this project will thus focus on soil fertilization management, soil fixation and erosion control, water conservation and crop yields promotion. To establish a sustainable development mode for dryland farming in Liaoning and to improve both economic and environmental benefits, the project will systematically carry out research and demonstration concerning the no-till stalks-mulching mode suitable for corn production in Liaoning province. Scientists of this project will work with agricultural machinery manufacturers to research and optimize the entire process of mechanized farming. The project aims to provide integrated techniques according to different regions' climatic conditions, soil characteristics and socio-economic conditions, solving problems such as temperature - water supply imbalance, machinery mismatching, and low efficiency in recycling of agricultural resources. The project will also formulate technical specifications and standards concerning the mechanized no-tillage farming with corn stalks mulching.
At the end of the meeting, the attendees expressed their opinions and suggestions on relevant issues such as the choice of demonstration places, technical integration modes,and national strategic layouts.
