NSTDA researchers are successful in rehabilitating saline soil field that had been used for salt farming by growing salt tolerant plants. Within three years, the salinity of the soil has been reduced to just and the land is now used to grow harvested trees and agricultural plants.
Researchers developed a method for growing rice on soil with initial salinity rate of l1.5 %, which yield 350 kg of rice/1,600m2, compared to the zero yield of traditional method of rice planting. After the salt-tolerant rice variety was grown on the land for two seasons, the salinity rate of soil has been dropped from 1.5 % to 0.8 %. The program undertaken by BIOTEC’s plant physiology and biochemistry lab and Pathumthani Rice Research Center finds that the fourth generation of the pure line salt-tolerant fragrant rice when cross-breeded with Dok Mali 105 rice, its hybrid seeds grow well on saline soil and yield productivity. The result of this agricultural development system helps farmers in saline soil areas have more productive rice fields as well as boost up their incomes.
As a result of this research, Dr. Chalermpol Kerdmanee of BIOTEC is awarded “The First Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers” from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. And his collaborative project with Pimai Salt Co.,Ltd. was prized the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) Monitoring Award in the mining category from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment for two years running (2006 and 2007).