Study On Improvement Of Saline-Alkaline Land In Henan Province In The1930s

In the early 1930 s,in order to solve the economic and social problems caused by salinealkali land,the Nanking National Government proposed to carry out saline-alkali land improvement in Hebei,Shandong,Henan and Shanxi provinces.In Henan Province,due to the frequent floods of the Yellow River over the years,the water conservancy infrastructure has been damaged,and the cultivated land has become a contiguous saline-alkali land.This has had a great impact on agricultural production in Henan Province,so that a large number of people have to produce and sell soil salt,and triggered a series of economic and social problems.On this basis,with the cooperation intention of the Ministry of Finance of the National Government,the Construction Department of Henan Province and the Supervision and Marketing Bureau of Henan Province,coupled with the influence of the tide of nitrate salt,Henan Province took the lead in starting the improvement of saline-alkali land.In September 1934,the Henan Provincial Waterworks and Soil-improvement Committee was formally established to implement the improvement of saline-alkali land in the whole province.Under the guidance of scientific methods provided by the research on soil improvement related to soil science rising in the same period,the improvement of saline-alkali land in Henan Province started from the investigation of the situation of saline-alkali land in the whole province,and determined the working principle of the second development according to the severity of saline-alkali land in different regions,and formulated the provincial improvement plan that was carried out in parallel with both water conservancy renovation and soil improvement.On this basis,the Committee took the lead in carrying out large-scale renovation of water conservancy work in the eastern region of Henan,with the improvement of soil chemical test in Kaifeng improved alkaline soil test site,and the propaganda of the improved alkaline soil firm in Guide District,persuaded the reform of nitrate salt and cultivated land,and improved salinealkali land in the eastern region of Henan.In this process,the Commission ’s solid basic investigation work,the advantages of both planning and flexibility,and the application of scientific principles and methods have effectively promoted the improvement work.After more than two years from 1934 to 1937,the improvement of saline-alkali land in Henan Province,as a multi-sectoral collaboration to carry out comprehensive management of soil and salt problems and improve the agricultural environment,has made some achievements.After the improvement of water conservancy infrastructure in Henan Province,especially in the eastern part of Henan Province,the original salinealkali soil properties were improved,the agricultural productivity of the land was restored,and the salt people were able to re-enter agricultural production,which reduced the soil salt production and increased the national salt tax revenue.At the same time,with the emergence of the results of the soil improvement experiment,the inherent understanding of the people about the saline-alkali land can not be cultivated normally has been effectively broken,and the way of agricultural production has been widened,so as to initially achieve the purpose of not disturbing the social order due to livelihood problems.But there are also some limitations in this comprehensive management practice.Due to the defects in the initial structure of the committee,the work of improving soil has been seriously lagging behind,resulting in insufficient protection of the livelihood of the salt people in the process of improving saline-alkali land.In addition,the continuous strengthening of anti-smuggling and prohibition in the salt affairs system has not formed a benign cooperation with the work of improving saline-alkali land,which has a negative impact on the development of the work.In general,as a new practice of controlling soil salt and improving agriculture,the improvement of saline-alkali land in Henan Province not only proves that the road of controlling soil salt through the renovation of water conservancy and the improvement of soil chemical experiment is feasible and effective,but also provides rich data and example reference for the rise of soil science research in the same period,and promotes the development of soil science.The accumulated experience and lessons in this process provide valuable historical experience for the current saline-alkali land improvement practice to avoid repeating the mistakes.