Chinese project to grow wheat in sand to combat desertification and strengthen food security proved to be a success across various locations
Two years ago, on the fringes of the Taklamakan Desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, China launched an unprecedented project to plant wheat in sand.
In Kunyu, a county-level city on the southern edge of the Taklamakan, the latest wheat crop – planted across more than 8,200 mu (~547 hectares) – has maintained a greening and seedling-survival rate of over 90 per cent, according to a People’s Daily report in early April. A mu is a standard Chinese unit of measurement, with 15 mu equivalent to one hectare and around 6 mu equalling one acre.
Farm managers in the region have implemented highly automated irrigation technology known as a “pivot sprinkler system,” featuring multiple suspended showerhead-like nozzles.
