An eco-agriculture model of "reed-crab-mandarin fish-microlepido yellowtal" for enhanced production functions of soda saline-alkali reed marshlands

YANG Fu-Yi,LI Xiu-Jun,LIU Xing-Tu(Key Laboratory for Wetland Ecology and Environment of Chinese Academy Sciences;Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130012,China)

Reed marshland,Eco-agriculture model,Reed,Crab,Spotted mandarin fish,Microlepido yellowtal,Benefit

To explore high beneficial use of soda saline-alkali reed marshlands,an eco-agriculture model(consisting of reeds,crabs,spotted mandarin fish,and microlepido yellowtail) was developed and tested in a 23.6 hm2 marshland.The model tamed and cultured crabs,spotted mandarin fish and microlepido yellowtal in saline-alkali water with natural food supply.The model also involved farmland water conservancy projects,water quantity and quality management and reeds high-output cultivation.The results for 2006—2009 showed that the outputs of crabs,spotted mandarin fish and microlepido yellowtal were 81.00 kg·hm-2,39.34 kg·hm-2 and 58.62 kg·hm-2,respectively.Reed output was 5 478 kg·hm-2,which represented an increase of 1.2 times(22.0% per year) over natural marshlands.The total economic benefit from the model was 1.45×104 Yuan per hm2,an increase of 13 times over natural marshlands.Water salinity,alkalinity and soil salt content respectively declined by 19.1%,10.3% and 20.3%.Soil organic matter content also increased by 8.9% per year.The model increased per-capita net income by 11.2% per year,which represented a contribution rate of 43% to increase of per-capita net income.The findings suggested that the model application further enhanced the functions of production and ecology of soda saline-alkali reed marshlands.The model achieved simultaneous benefits for the economy,ecology and society,and was therefore applicable to soda saline-alkali reed marshlands.