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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (5): 190-199.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2021384

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Progress in research on tall wheatgrass as a salt-alkali tolerant forage grass

Hong-wei LI1(), Qi ZHENG1, Bin LI1, Mao-lin ZHAO1,2, Zhen-sheng LI1()   

  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering,Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China
    2.Zhongke-Dongying Research Center of Molecular Designed Breeding,Dongying 257509,China
  • Received:2021-10-28 Revised:2021-11-29 Online:2022-05-20 Published:2022-03-30
  • Contact: Hong-wei LI,Zhen-sheng LI

Abstract:

Tall wheatgrass (Elytrigia elongata) is a perennial cool season forage grass that is tolerant to salt-alkali, waterlogging, and drought. It has been cultivated for more than half a century in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries. It has also been used as a distant hybridization parent for wheat genetic improvement in China since 1954. Although some tall wheatgrass varieties were introduced and grown as forage and sand-stabilizing plants in North China during the 1980s-1990s, it has not been cultivated as widely in China as in other countries. More than 10 varieties were certified and released in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries. However, no tall wheatgrass variety was certified and released in China currently. Li Zhen-sheng’s group has studied tall wheatgrass cultivated in Beijing, Caofeidian, Nanpi, Haixing, and Dongying, China for 8 years, and found that it grows well and is highly productive in saline and alkaline soils. On the basis of those findings, Li proposed a new concept of a “coastal grass belt”, wherein salt-alkali tolerant forage grass could be grown in coastal areas with saline and alkaline soils. There are 667000 hectares of saline and alkaline soils where it is unprofitable to grow cereal crops in the coastal Circum-Bohai sea region in China. In such areas, the cultivation of perennial forage grasses such as tall wheatgrass would not only meet the increasing local demands for hay, pasture, and silage, but also minimize soil erosion and salinization. However, the paucity of tall wheatgrass varieties and limited knowledge of cultivation techniques are major challenges. These issues must be addressed before tall wheatgrass can be used to create a “coastal grass belt” in China. Here, we review the results of studies on its tolerance to salt, drought, and waterlogging, and on forage quality, cultivars, and cultivation techniques. We also discuss the progress to date in using tall wheatgrass to create a “coastal grass belt”.

Key words: tall wheatgrass, salt-alkali tolerance, costal grass belt