Work resumed on a wide swathe of saline-alkaline land in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on Thursday in preparation for rice planting at the end of April.

Local farmers reclaimed 200 hectares of tidal flats in the city's northern Chengyang district. A dozen drones helped spray soil conditioners.

Researchers from a laboratory led by renowned Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping acquired a variety of rice seeds used especially for saline-alkaline land since 2017.

Some seeds will be sown in Qingdao next month and more will be placed on saline-alkaline land across China.