China builds vegetable farms near desert

South Asia News

China builds vegetable farms near desert

Yinchuan (China), July 12 (Xinhua) Farmers in China have built one of the largest vegetable production bases near the rim of the vast Mu Us desert, known for its frequent sandstorms.

In the 1970s, these very farmers had left their housing estates near the desert. Today, they have made a triumphant comeback.

The Mu Us, also known as the Uxin desert, is one of China's eight biggest deserts. It extends about 10,000 sq km in the Inner Mongolia region, Ningxia region and Shaanxi province.

The vegetable base, covering Bainijing town and Haiziliang village of Shaanxi province, presently produces 180,000 tons of vegetable a year, including 90,000 tons of chillies.

The two vegetable wholesale markets in the region have sold 66 million yuan ($8.25 million) worth of chillies and potatoes to other parts of the province since 2003.

An industrial association, consisting of 80 vegetable growers, was set up to promote local products to the national market, said Shi Qingliang, an official with Bainijing town.

'This is incredible. Twenty years back, we could only grow barley and wheat was a luxury we could eat once a year,' remarked Qingliang.

Strong winds used to bring sand all year round, he said. 'After each sandstorm, the sand and dust in my courtyard would fill two handcarts.'

In 1984, Shi Guangyin, a farmer from Haiziliang village, volunteered to combat desertification by growing a cluster of desert bushes on the rim of the Mu Us desert.

To date, Shi has covered 14,500 hectares of barren land with at least 20 million plants, building up a 100-km-long defence line against the encroaching desert. Many locals have followed his example by growing trees and grass to improve the local ecology.

Despite the arid climate, agronomists say the region enjoys high temperature and much exposure to sunlight - a big advantage in vegetable production.

By exploiting ground water for irrigation and using films to attenuate evaporation, local farmers have increased per hectare output of chillies to 200 kg and potatoes to 160 kg.

In 2005, Bainijing town registered 220 million yuan ($27.5 million) of agricultural output, 80 percent of which came from vegetable production. And last year, the per capita net income of villagers rose to 2,125 yuan ($266).

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China builds vegetable farms near desert