The Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) has made a breakthrough in the research on saline and alkaline desert and the agriculture on saline and alkaline soils in March, 2011.

According to Mr. Xing Junwu, Research Fellow with the Institute, who is in charge of the project and has been studying in this field for a long time, this new technology overcomes the adverse effect of gales and draught on Suaeda and other halophytes plantings. It makes it possible to mass plant Suaeda and other halophytes in an extremely droughty inland area with high degrees of salt and alkaline to create vegetation, eliminate the bare saline and alkaline desert and control the spreading of its salinization and saline dust storms, achieve the improvements and optimization in the ecological environment and build up an efficient agriculture on saline and alkaline soils. This invention has been granted a patent by the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China, titled "A Method for Planting Salt-tolerant Vegetables in the Draught and Strong Winds Desert Environment".

This invention is a key subject in the Knowledge Innovation Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences for the Eleventh Five Year Period. It is one of the technological achievements in the subjects – The Research and Demonstration of Key Technologies for Efficient Saline Agriculture and the Research and Development of Efficient Uaeda Glauca Cultivating Technologies on the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Science and Technology Support Program. This project has received a lasting and continued support from the Office of Agricultural Programs of CAS.