Utah-Taihu Institute of Environmental Research

Throughout history China has suffered from a lack of arable land, only 15% of its land can be cultivated. China only has 7% of the world's arable land to produce food for one quarter of the world's population. The soil has become saturated with fertilizers and pesticides which were used to increase agricultural productivity. UTIER is working with Chinese businesses, academics and government leaders to complete a demonstration project in Pudong, Shanghai that uses irrigation techniques in greenhouses to reduce soil salinity and soil degradation. Over 50% of all the agricultural land in Shanghai is covered by greenhouses. High salinity is a major problem in the soil in all of these greenhouses, this has led the Shanghai government to declare that solving the problem of high soil salinity is a critical need.

Utah State University is partnering with UTIER to ensure that this soil remediation project is successfully. Utah State University professors have visited the greenhouses in Pudong to test the soil and analyze the project. They regularly consult with the project managers to ensure that their advice is carried out and to provide suggestions for overcoming problems the managers are having.