An exhibition hall displays moves to protect black soil being made by Lishu county in Northeast China's Jilin province. Jilin is rich in black soil – a type of highly fertile earth that takes hundreds of years to form a layer one-centimeter thick – and this has made it China's major grain-producing province. The region is located at the core of the "black soil area" in northeastern China and the grain output of its 26 typical black soil areas and counties accounts for 80 percent of the province's total. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To prevent the fertility of the black soil from being degraded and to maintain its productivity, the province has been undertaking conservation tillage, a form of tillage designed to minimize the use of plows and prevent the loss of topsoil. Lishu county offers an example of this practice. After reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and covering fallow farmland with corn stalks to raise its productivity, the county has effectively countered agricultural degradation and conserved its soil resources. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Lishu county is seen as being a shining example of black soil protection. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]