An on-site seminar on intelligent monitoring and evaluation of black soil in the Songnen Plain was recently held in Nong'an county, Changchun city, Jilin province, Northeast China. The Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP), CAAS, held the event to help implement the national strategy for agricultural science and technology innovation, effectively advance the protection and utilization of black soil and technological innovation, and accelerate the application of key technological achievements. The seminar on the national key R&D program of China — the "Intelligent Monitoring and Evaluation of Cultivated Land Quality in the Black Soil Region of the Songnen Plain" (2023YFD1501300) — was organized by the Institute of Resources and Environment of the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS).

It was chaired by Yang Jianjun, a researcher at IARRP, CAAS, and the chief scientist of the project. Li Kedong, the manager of the Longyuan Planting Company in Nong'an county, and Cai Hongguang, the director of the Institute of Resources and Environment of JAAS, delivered welcome speeches. They thanked the project team and experts for providing guidance and assistance in technological innovation for cultivated land conservation at Longyuan Planting Company and at JAAS.

During a special report session, Yang Jianjun systematically explained the project's phased achievements in optimizing the layout of monitoring stations in the Songnen Plain. He also talked about space-air-ground cultivated land monitoring technology, the evolution patterns of cultivated land quality, and the demonstration of technologies for the dual enhancement of cultivated land quality and grain production capacity. Participants conducted a field visit to an experimental base operated by Longyuan Planting Company in Nong'an county. Key project members Liu Jianzhao, Huang Wentao, and Li Huibin gave a special introduction to the construction of the base and to the application of the information-based intelligent platform. They outlined the practical application scenarios for intelligent monitoring technology in the monitoring and evaluation of cultivated land quality in the black soil region of the Songnen Plain.

During the seminar, experts engaged in in-depth discussions on the integration of key project technologies, the transformation and application of research findings, and the next-step work plan. This laid a solid foundation for further promoting the construction of an intelligent monitoring and evaluation system for cultivated land quality in the black soil region of the Songnen Plain.

In his concluding remarks, Wu Wenbin, the director of the IARRP, fully affirmed the project's phased progress and the collaborative efforts of all participating units. He emphasized the significance of the project for monitoring and conserving cultivated land quality, and for increasing grain production in the black soil region, and set out his expectations for the next phase of work. He expressed the hope that, based on the progress achieved to date, the project would accelerate the application of technologies to serve the national black soil conservation project.

Some 30 representatives attended the seminar, including experts from the project host institution and seminar organizing units, the chief scientist of the project, leaders of various sub-projects, and key project members.