On this day, 33 years ago, September 5, 1992 (August 9, 1992 in the lunar calendar), soil scientist Ye Hecai passed away. Ye Hecai (1912-1992) was born in Mei County, Guangdong Province. Born on October 31, 1912, died on September 5, 1992, at the age of 80. A soil scientist and educator, and one of the founders of salinized soil improvement in northern China. When he was a child, he went to Thailand with his father. After returning home, he entered Shanghai Hujiang University Affiliated Middle School and High School. After graduation, he was sent to Hujiang University to study business for free. Due to his opposition to discrimination against China teachers, he gave up the free treatment and transferred to the Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Jinling University. Graduated in 1934 with a bachelor's degree in agriculture, and stayed in school as a teaching assistant in soil and fertilizer science. In 1937, he received public funding and went to study for postgraduate studies at the School of Agriculture at Cambridge University in the UK. In 1940, he received a master's degree in science. After returning to China in 1941, he was appointed as a researcher at the Chongqing Central Agricultural Experimental Institute, mainly engaged in field experimental research on soil fertilizers. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he served as a technical leader in the Beiping Agricultural Experimental Ground of the Central Agricultural Experimental Institute. He carried out research on the utilization and improvement of coastal saline soil, the impact of tide on the salt changes of Yuanjiahe River, and the impact of fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, and lime nitrogen on rice at the Junliang City Experimental Branch. In 1948, he was hired as a professor at the School of Agriculture, Tsinghua University. In September 1949, the Agricultural Schools of Tsinghua University, Peking University, and North China University merged to form Beijing Agricultural University. He was hired as a professor in the Department of Soil Agrochemistry, and successively served as the director of the Water Conservancy and Soil Improvement Teaching and Research Section, and the director of the Department of Soil Agrochemistry. In the 1950s, he successively studied the changes of groundwater level and soil salinity, the effect of applying organic fertilizer on improving coastal heavy saline soil, and the effect of planting salt-tolerant plant yellow grass on improving coastal heavy saline soil; he put forward biological and hydraulic soil improvement measures, which achieved good results and opened up a new way for improving coastal saline soil. Ye Hecai is a member of the China Democratic League. He was elected as a representative of the Fifth People's Congress of Beijing City, a member of the Fifth CPPCC, and a member of the Standing Committee of the Sixth and Seventh CPPCC.