It's been two years since the black soil protection law came to effect in China.The law aims to restore the fertile land after decades of excessive reclamation and fertilizer overuse. CGTN's Guan Yang went to one of the country's main grain production regions, Jilin Province, and found out how scientists are fostering collaboration among countries towards promoting the sustainable use of black soil.

Black soil is the most productive carbon-rich soil on our planet. In China, it's a particularly fertile land located largely in the country's northeastern provinces. For years, the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology in Jilin Province has been working at the forefront of black soil conservation and utilization. One of their latest projects is to get to the root of the issues.

LI LUJUN, Vice President, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS "Considering the vastness of the northeast grain production region, soil conditions can vary from place to place. The most important task before anything else is to obtain the soil data and profiles through monitoring and evaluation."

GUAN YANG, Changchun, Jilin Province "The latest CPC plenum stated that Chinese modernization is based on the harmony between humanity and nature. And the importance of black soil cannot be overstated. It plays a vital role in food security, ecosystem health, and even climate change mitigation."

Since the law went to effect in 2022. China has been promoting conservational tillage, increased the application of organic fertilizer, and adopted maize and soybean rotation planting techniques to protect black soil. These measures have gained increasing recognition from scientists of other countries.

PROF. MICHAEL THOMPSON, President, Soil Science Society of America "While I was here, I've taken a lot of photos, so that I can show my students black soil in China, and I can say 'look, it is very similar to our soils, we are all in this together'. And, in fact, the Soil Science Society of America and the soil science societies in China have been working together for the last several years to make sure that communication between the scientists is going on all the time."

As a platform for countries with black soils to discuss common issues related to the sustainable management of black soils, the 4th International Conference on Black Soils Conservation and Utilization was held in Changchun this week with the aim of gathering international wisdom, innovative theories and technologies for the conservation and utilization of black soil.

JIANG MING, President, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS "I think the reason why the conference has received widespread attention from international scientist is that we've demonstrated our competence in various applications and technologies for black soil conservation in the past few years. And we want scientists from other countries not just be told, but see the developments through their own eyes, so that the solutions can be replicated worldwide."

PROF. SHAHBAZ KHAN, Director, UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia "Such exchanges, through this institute (Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology), through national science organizations (in China), as well as other parties are strongly linked to the UN's sustainable development goals."

By 2025. China plans to improve the organic matter in nearly seven million hectares of black soil by 10%. Meanwhile, China is willing to set up platforms where countries with black soils can gather for the collaborative development of regional resources, environmental protection, and food security. Guan Yang, CGTN, Jilin Province.