China News Service, Xining, March 22 (Reporter Li Jiangning) "Last year, we screened out 63 highly saline-alkali tolerant resources from 68 fernseed germplasm resources and planted them in the severely saline-alkali land in the Haixi area of Qinghai. Currently, Judging from the results, the survival rate is over 92% and the growth conditions are good." On the 22nd, Li Junqiao, dean of the School of Ecology, Environment and Resources of Qinghai University for Nationalities and dean of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Pteridophyta Industry Research Institute, told a reporter from China News Service that this is also the first time in China Achieve successful planting of fern in severely saline-alkali land.
The data picture shows the Qinghai fern plantation area taken in 2023. (Photo provided by interviewee)
Soil salinization has become a major factor limiting land resources in China and a major issue restricting the sustainable development of agriculture in arid areas. With the development of science and technology, saline-alkali land has also become an extremely important reserve cultivated land resource and "potential granary".
It is understood that the fern is a variant of Potentilla velvet. Only in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau does the root system expand to form a tuberous root - fern. It is a rare resource plant with great characteristics and nutrition on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Qinghai fern has the highest reserves, the largest individuals, the best quality, the richest germplasm, and the highest nutritional content and active ingredients. "Encyclopedia of Chinese Native Products" records: Fernseed is a specialty of the northwest alpine grasslands, mainly produced in Qinghai. It is both edible and medicinal, and is known as the "ginseng fruit". In Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu and other places in China, fern is the main raw material of Tibetan medicine.
Previously, Qinghai farmers and herdsmen had been harvesting wild fern as one of their main sources of income, causing serious damage to the ecological environment. In 2009, Qinghai Province included it in the category where mining is prohibited.
"In 2009, after more than 10 years of systematic research, China's first artificially domesticated and cultivated Fernma variety - 'Qinghai Fernma No. 1' was approved, realizing a leap from wild fern to artificial cultivation. The two are relatively nutritious. There is no significant difference in substances and active ingredients, and it can completely replace wild fern hemp, providing raw material guarantee for the industrialization of fern hemp," said Li Junqiao.
After 5 months of planting the selected germplasm resources in the severely saline-alkali land, various data show that the germplasm resources of the fern have a significant effect on improving the soil in the saline-alkali land. When planting the fern in soil with a salt content of 1.56%, the soil contains salt. The amount was significantly reduced. According to Li Junqiao, this is due to the fact that the secretions of the underground root system and rhizosphere microorganisms of the fern can improve the permeability of the soil, increase the organic matter content, and reduce the soil bulk density. At the same time, the fern can cooperate with the salt discharge method to reduce the soil salt content, which is beneficial to saline-alkali soils. The soil improvement effect is remarkable, which solves the problem of land competition between fern and grain. (over)