How should land be planted in the desert? Agriculture in sandy areas is in the ascendant.

At present, the development of agricultural production in China is subject to hard constraints such as the reduction of cultivated land resources and the limited carrying capacity of environmental resources. China now has a desertification area of 1.73 million mu, which has great potential to expand agricultural production space in arid desert areas. However, the ecology of the sandy area is fragile, so it is necessary to find a balance between the protection of the ecological environment and the development of agriculture, and appropriately develop farmland on the premise of protecting the ecological environment.

In many places, deserts are turning into farmland, and others are eager to try. So how on earth should agricultural development be carried out in the desert? Our reporter conducted an in-depth investigation on whether it was a controlled development or a large-scale promotion.

Agriculture in sandy areas is in the ascendant.

Entering Sour Lihai Village, Qinhe Township, Yuyang District, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, the reporter saw dozens of greenhouses standing in the middle of the sand. Zhang Lianhu, science and technology commissioner of Yuyang District Horticultural Technology Promotion Station, told reporters that this is the vegetable planting base of Luoli Haize Village facilities. Although the village is located on the edge of Maowusu Desert, due to the abundance of groundwater resources, along with the improvement of the ecological environment, sour Lihaizi Village arranges and improves sandy land, develops facility vegetables and fruits, and grows strawberries, grapes, cantaloupes, cucumbers, etc. are very popular in the market. As a result, Sour Lihaize Village has become a famous demonstration village of one village and one product in Shaanxi Province, with an average annual income of more than 100,000 yuan.

Yulin City, located in the northernmost part of Shaanxi Province and on the southern edge of Maowusu Desert, was once one of the most serious areas of desertification and desertification in the country. After decades of arduous sand prevention and control, the forest coverage rate has increased from 0.9% before the founding of the people's Republic of China to 33% today. 8.6 million mu of quicksand in the wind-blown sand area in the north has been fixed or semi-fixed, and 1.5 million mu of farmland has been netted.

Liu Zhongxiong, deputy researcher of the Yulin Municipal Bureau of Agriculture, told the reporter that with the improvement of the ecological situation, in recent years, Yulin City has developed 150000 mu of arable land in sandy areas through the land occupation and compensation balance project, established one by one modern large farms, and facility agriculture is in the ascendant. "under the premise of pursuing ecological benefits, the appropriate development of sandy land agriculture is conducive to arousing the enthusiasm of local desert prevention and control and realizing the sustainable development of ecological protection." Liu Zhongxiong said.

Like Yulin City, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, which is nearly half of the area occupied by Kubuqi Desert and Maowusu Desert, was once an area seriously affected by desertification in China. After decades of desert prevention and control, great changes have taken place in the ecological environment of Ordos. The governance rate of Maowusu Sandy Land is more than 75%, and that of Kubuqi Desert is more than 25%. While carefully protecting the hard-won desert oasis, Ordos is also exploring the possibility of turning the desert oasis into fertile land.

Wu Xiangdong, deputy director of the Forestry Bureau of Darat Banner in Ordos City, believes that at present, China is in short supply of cultivated land resources, so it is possible to expand agricultural production space to the desert. However, there is a lack of scientific and effective technical and theoretical support to transform the desert oasis into cultivated land without destroying the ecological environment. Excessive development of agriculture in sandy areas will lead to a drop in water level, which is likely to lead to secondary desertification in sandy land. According to the current situation of exploration in various localities, we should follow the principle of "more daylighting, less water use, new technology, and high efficiency", make full use of light and heat resources and forest resources in desert areas, and develop industries such as Hippophae rhamnoides, Salix, Caragana and licorice.

It is understood that whether fertile land can be developed in areas with good desert management has always been controversial. At present, desertification areas such as Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and Inner Mongolia are also exploring the development of sandy agriculture in the process of protecting the ecological environment. Potatoes in northern Shaanxi, Chinese wolfberry in Ningxia, sunflowers in Gansu and grapes in Xinjiang have formed a certain influence in the market.

Experts believe that there is nothing wrong with people's desire to get rid of the constraints of natural economic conditions and achieve a bumper agricultural harvest with favorable weather conditions, but different regions have their inherent characteristics, and people cannot change the natural properties of the regions. it is also impossible to eliminate the arid climate once and for all. People need to live in harmony with nature and rationally sum up comprehensive measures through continuous practice to achieve innovative development in accordance with local conditions under harsh climatic conditions.

Strictly control the scale of development

During the interview process in the sandy area, the reporter heard the most word is moderate development. People who have experienced desert invasion know more about the importance of protecting the ecological environment. Li Anxiong, deputy director of the Land Planning Bureau of Yulin City, told reporters that in order to avoid excessive agricultural development in sandy areas and damage the ecological environment, they strictly controlled the scale of cultivated land development, and no more than 50,000 mu of cultivated land was developed through the cultivated land occupation-compensation balance project each year.

It is understood that since Yulin City was identified as a national "multi-planning in one" pilot city, an overall plan for land use has been formed. to build a unified space control system, including construction land scale control line, urban development boundary, industrial development boundary, mining development boundary, ecological protection red line, basic farmland protection red line, and so on, any land use must be subject to this plan.

Like Yulin City, Ordos exercises strict control over land. Mao Yunfeng, chief engineer of the Ordos Forestry Bureau, told reporters that over the years, Ordos has regarded ecological construction as the largest infrastructure, drawing an ecological blueprint to the end. In order to protect the ecological environment, Ordos City implemented a strict three-zone development plan as early as 10 years ago, dividing the territory into optimized development zones for agriculture and animal husbandry, restricted development zones and prohibited development zones.

Ordos Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Optimization Development Zone is mainly distributed along the Yellow River and Wuding River basins, which is the core area to build modern agriculture and animal husbandry and improve the comprehensive production capacity of agriculture and animal husbandry. Along the Yellow River and Wuding River, Dalat Banner is rich in water resources. by transforming the sandy area into high-standard farmland, it has become an important commercial grain base in China.

Agriculture and animal husbandry restricts the contradiction between the population and the environment in the development zone. Ordos resolutely implements the development policy of determining farmland by water, determining people by land, determining livestock by grass, and balancing grass and livestock, and resolutely transfers farmers and herdsmen who exceed the carrying capacity of the environment, reduce the overloaded livestock, and shift part of the labor force from primary production to secondary and tertiary industries. On this basis, Ordos focuses on ecological construction and protection, strengthens the construction of farmland and grassland with water as the center, moderately develops the economy of agriculture and animal husbandry, and resolutely forbids over-development.

The biggest infrastructure construction in the agriculture and animal husbandry prohibited development zone is ecological construction. Ordos has taken strong measures to increase population transfer to move farmers and herdsmen engaged in agricultural and animal husbandry production activities out of the area as soon as possible, so as to reduce human interference and damage. reduce the pressure on the ecological environment and restore vegetation.

"since the implementation of the development plan of the three zones for more than 10 years, the effect has been very good, avoiding the excessive expansion of cultivated land, effectively promoting the protection of the ecological environment and the development of forest and sand industry, and realizing the greening of deserts, the prosperity of the common people and the tax increase of enterprises, so as to promote the development of regional economy." Mao Yunfeng said.

Take more measures to do a good job in management and protection

For the developed cultivated land, how to manage and protect the cultivated land in the later stage, avoid predatory management and prevent the secondary desertification of cultivated land is a problem that needs to be solved at present.

Liu Zhongxiong told the reporter that the sandy land is relatively barren and is not suitable for growing crops directly. in order to transform the sandy land into arable land, the soil must first be tested, and only those that meet the requirements of cultivated land development can be developed, and then the sandy land is covered with 10 to 15 centimeters of loess and concrete. It is necessary to strengthen the late management of cultivated land and minimize the impact of cultivated land development on the ecological environment by implementing strict farming methods such as crop rotation, returning straw to the field and planting winter wheat.

Standing on the viewing platform of the potato breeding base of Shaanxi Earth seed Industry Co., Ltd., Mahe Town, Yuyang District, tens of thousands of mu of potatoes are boundless. Hao Guangfang, chairman of the company, told reporters that in 2012, his company contracted 19700 mu of converted sandy land and planted 10,000 mu of potatoes, while other land planted high-quality forage grasses such as corn and alfalfa, and the land utilization rate reached about 70%. "in the first year of contracted land, the wind blew sand and ran away when farming. We consolidate the sandy land and improve soil fertility by returning straw to the field and planting winter wheat. Now the sandy land is getting flatter and flatter, the soil fertility is getting higher and higher, and the planting income is getting better and better. last year, the net income per mu reached about 300 yuan, and this year it is expected to reach about 500 yuan. " Hao Guangfang said.

The reporter saw that on some sand dunes that could not be cultivated, the Earth Company planted psammophytes such as sand willow, Caragana, Artemisia annua and alfalfa. Hao Guangfang said that in order to resist the wind erosion of the land, they usually do not allow any bare arable land, planted shelterbelts around the cultivated land, and strictly implement the mode of rotation of potato and corn. "in the winter idle season, all the straw is returned to the field and the land is covered with straw. Some plots plant winter wheat, and when the land is cultivated next spring, winter wheat will be returned to the field, which can also improve soil fertility. " However, planting winter wheat is the most effective measure to protect arable land, but it increases planting costs. It is hoped that the relevant departments will increase their subsidies in this regard.

During the interview in Yulin and Ordos, the reporter learned that water-saving irrigation techniques were widely used in some modern farms. The potato bases of Mahe Town, Yuyang District, Yulin City and Gaohai Potato Base of Haizitan Town, Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province, are widely used for sprinkler irrigation and watering, and farmers generally use drip irrigation technology in protected agricultural greenhouses. In some sandy farmland in Dalat Banner, Inner Mongolia, farmers mostly use micro-sprinkler irrigation technology.

Liu Xiao, a technician at the Agricultural Technology Center of Yulin City, believes that although large-scale mobile sprinkler irrigation facilities can save water, it is still easy to waste water resources and cause land salinization, and popularizing drip irrigation and micro-sprinkler irrigation is more in line with the agricultural needs of sandy areas. The dynamic monitoring mechanism of groundwater level should be established to monitor the change of groundwater level at any time. When the groundwater level drops, fallow should be carried out to restore vegetation.