The black soil area in Northeast China is the most important high-quality commodity grain base of China, where the grain output accounts for 1/4 of the country's total output, and the export volume accounts for 1/3 of the total export volume (e.g., from one province to another) of the country. How to rationally use black soil resources, protect the black soil, develop a green production model, and establish a sustainable farming model for Northeast China are of great significance to the healthy development of China's agriculture. 

In order to implement the spirit of the important instructions of General Secretary XI Jin Ping on black soil protection and grain security, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with other national departments and local governments, has launched the "Black Soil and Granary" Initiative. The Initiative focuses on the protection and rational utilisation of black soil resources. It aims at creating a "Chinese Academy of Sciences Solution" to ensure stable and high grain production, while maintaining and improving soil fertility in the long term. And the Initiative will support the "Northeast Revitalisation" Strategy by promoting agricultural modernisation.  

The Initiative will set up 7 demonstration areas, of which the Liaoning Demonstration Area construction program is being undertaken by the Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE), Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

The Liaoning Demonstration Area construction program will establish (1) a Healthy Soil Cultivation Technology System which integrates a variety of core techniques, such as conservation tillage, soil fertilisation and thickening, efficient use of organic resources, optimisation of cropping structure, the combined planting and breeding model, green production, modernised and intelligent agriculture, etc., (2) a key technological system for green production and sustainable high-yield agriculture that is suitable for in black soil areas, and (3) a technological system for soil anti-corrosion and soil consolidation. 

The Liaoning Demonstration Areas are designed to include a key demonstration area in Tieling, that is, the Northern Liaoning Rainwater-Harvesting Agricultural Demonstration Area, and two auxiliary demonstration areas, including the Western Liaoning (Fuxin) Dryland Agriculture Demonstration Area and the Central and Southern Liaoning (Shenyang) Paddy Farming Demonstration Area. In addition, more demonstration areas are being established in Panjin, Jinzhou, Chaoyang, etc. The well-developed technological system will be widely promoted in Liaoning Province. 

So far, the Liaoning Demonstration Area construction program has completed the preliminary work such as the establishment of research teams, the docking cooperation with local governments, the selection of demonstration sites, and the collection of the soil background data. The scientific research backbones from the Agricultural Centre of IAE will actively participate in the "Black Soil and Granary" Initiative, work hard to contribute the construction of the Liaoning Demonstration Area, and develop a "Liaoning paradigm" for high-quality protection and utilisation of black soil.