Robots, plants and photovoltaic panels -- China fortifies to contain desert

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For Saydi Emin, a farmer living on the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, known as the "Sea of Death," sandstorms were a constant menace.

They would rip away the plastic film covering his fields and destroy cotton seedlings, often leading to reduced or zero yields. These challenges left him with lingering fears. But now, with the recent completion of a desert control project in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Saydi Emin sees hope for a future free from such risks.

The largest desert in China, the Taklimakan is now completely encircled by a green belt stretching 3,046 km as of late November, thanks to more than four decades of efforts as part of China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, the world's largest afforestation program to tackle desertification.

The program was launched in 1978 and is scheduled to be completed by 2050. In June 2023, China proposed to turn the program into a fully functional and unbreakable "green Great Wall" and ecological security barrier in northern China.

Over the past 46 years, China has expanded its afforestation area by 32 million hectares under the program. The afforestation area under the program is projected to encompass over 4 million square km across 13 provincial-level regions by 2050, accounting for 42.4 percent of the country's total land area.

Additionally, the forest coverage rate of the areas under the program has risen from 5.05 percent to 13.84 percent. Significant progress has been made in desertification and soil erosion control, while protection has been ensured for about 30 million hectares of farmland.

ECOLOGICAL BARRIER

Covering 337,600 square km with a circumference of 3,046 km, the Taklimakan is also the world's second-largest drifting desert, according to statistics.

The desert poses significant threats to its surrounding ecological environment. Over the years, it has buried roads, river channels and farmland, with some sand dunes encroaching on oases at a rate of two to three meters a year.

Since the launch of the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, significant transformations have taken place. Over more than 40 years, the desert was gradually encircled with a green belt. By the end of 2023, a 2,761-km stretch of the belt had connected scattered oases across Xinjiang, leaving only the most challenging section to complete.

The final stretch, approximately 285 km long, runs through areas along the southern edge of the desert, where it faces the most severe wind and sand hazards. Since this year, Xinjiang has implemented targeted and scientific measures to close this gap.

Tuhti Rahman, director of the Xinjiang regional forestry and grassland bureau, said the green belt will guarantee the stability of agricultural production, improve the urban living environment and promote Xinjiang's economic and social development.

The project fully demonstrates China's innovative approach to ecological construction and offers valuable experience for global efforts in combating desertification, Tuhti Rahman added.

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

Controlling desertification on the edge of the Taklimakan is a formidable challenge, prompting various areas to explore tailored measures to combat its encroachment.

For example, several bulldozers are seen moving back and forth in the sandstorm-prone areas of Minfeng County in Xinjiang's Hotan Prefecture these days. Once the land is leveled, drip irrigation tapes will be laid down and plants like tamarisk will be planted, a method known as desert control through biological measures.

Also located on the southern edge of the desert, Hotan's Pishan County is one of the areas most frequently affected by sandy and dusty weather. To combat this, the county has implemented a range of engineering measures to contain the desert's expansion.

According to Zhang Peiji, deputy director of Pishan's forestry and grassland bureau, the sand dunes in an area of the county are widely spaced and ordinary straw checkerboards -- where straw is placed in a checkerboard pattern on the desert surface to fix the dunes -- are easily buried by the shifting sand.

Therefore, after on-site planning by Xinjiang's forestry experts, upright sand barriers with a height of over one meter were set up, effectively preventing wind and sand.

Luo Aike, deputy director of the forestry and grassland bureau of Hotan Prefecture, explained that the combination of photovoltaics and agriculture offers a new model for sand control and fixation in Hotan, mainly in areas far from oases. This innovative approach generates power while reducing wind speed above and supports the growth of drought-tolerant plants below, providing multiple, simultaneous benefits.

Additionally, a domestically developed intelligent robot has been deployed in Qiemo County to transplant plants in the desert. The robot navigates the desert along preset routes and performs tasks such as digging holes and planting seedlings, achieving efficiency many times higher than traditional manual planting.

BOOSTING LIVELIHOOD

Luo said the green belt will be further consolidated and expanded, noting that efforts should be made to promote the development of sand industries to benefit local residents.

In an area adjacent to the desert in Minfeng County, plants including tamarisk have been planted on straw checkerboards, creating a dense green belt. Locals also graft cistanche, a traditional Chinese medicinal herb that grows in the desert, onto tamarisk trees, to earn extra income.

In Hotan's Lop County, local authorities have encouraged and guided various social forces to engage in sand prevention and control. As a result, three enterprises have been introduced to help restore 170,300 mu (about 11,353 hectares) of desertified land.

In Lop, a total of 690 households have contracted sandy land for reclamation and planting, with each household managing 30 to 50 mu. The government offers subsidies after verifying the survival rate of the plants.

To diversify the sand industries, Hotan promotes more than 20 crop varieties that are economically valuable and well-suited to local conditions, including Chinese medicinal herbs and forage. This initiative helps farmers boost their incomes through desert control. Over 30 crop varieties are currently being tested for cultivation in the prefecture.

"The environment has significantly improved compared to the past, contributing to fewer sandstorms and higher cotton yields. Thanks to desert management, the cultivation of Chinese medicinal herbs has become possible," said Saydi Emin. "I believe my life will be better."