October is golden autumn, the rice is ripe, and it is a good harvest season. On October 16, 2021, in the Shenbei (northern Shenyang) Demonstration Zone of the Strategic Priority Research Program (the Degraded Black Soil Fertility Restoration and Productivity Improvement) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the "Black Soil & Granary" Science and Technology Initiative of CAS, researchers are busy measuring crop yields and collecting plant and soil samples. 

The Shenbei Demonstration Zone is located in a rice production area in Liaoning Province, where the land-use intensity is high, crop products have low added value, and the potential for agricultural industrialisation and rural sustainable development is insufficient. In view of these problems, this spring, the researchers set up rice experimental fields in the Shenbei Demonstration Zone using various technical systems, including the standard cropping system designed to maintain and improve soil fertility, the green farming system, and the comprehensive technology system for improving quality and efficiency of crop production. 

Prof. Li Xiaojun, associate Prof. Jiang Nan, assistant Prof. Gong Ping, assistant Prof. Zhang Xiaolu of the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and assistant Prof. Zhang Chunlai of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of CAS, are PIs (principal investigators) or co-PIs of this research. 

The researchers conducted the crop yield measurement following the standard procedures to ensure that the samples and data are scientifically and accurately collected. The soil and plant samples they collected were chemically analysed in the laboratory to determine how different cropping techniques affect soil nutrients, crop nutrient absorption and rice quality, etc. 

Their study results will support the follow-up work of the project such as technical optimisation, integration and promotion, and will provide theoretical basis and data support for developing a rice cropping model which cannot only improve soil fertility but also enhance rice quality and farming efficiency. The researchers aimed to build a "Shenbei Model" to support the sustainable use of black soil and maintain the prosperity of industries in rural areas.