Everyone knows that the environmental conditions of a place will affect the economic development of a place. In desertified areas, due to the harsh environment, poverty often follows them like a shadow. What may be ignored by everyone is that poverty will in turn further aggravate desertification, thus forming a vicious cycle.
Scientists from the former Lanzhou Desert Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the "Desert Institute", which has now been incorporated into . The Northwest Institute of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences) have found in the long-term research on desert governance that if the poverty problem is not solved, the causes of desertification cannot be eliminated, and the fundamental restoration of desertified land cannot be achieved.
So how can we fight against the power of nature and cut off the connection between desertification and poverty?
The answer is science and technology poverty alleviation , which directly applies practical scientific and technological research and development results to poverty alleviation to promote the social and economic development of poor areas. Therefore, Naiman Desertification Research Station of Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as " Naiman Desertification ") came into being.
The sand dunes that turn green under the forest belt
Neman Station is located in Neman Banner in the hinterland of Korqin Sand Land. It is based on the causes and processes of desertification, paying attention to the research on the formation mechanism and governance technology of desertification, monitoring of sandy ecosystems, and establishing popularization of science, including graduate students and training of farmers and herdsmen.
In order to control desertified land, Naiman Station has adopted a variety of methods, such as sealing and breeding on both sides of the railway roadbed , building shrub forests mainly based on local plants in severe desertification areas, and sand fixing vegetation combining tree forests and grass nets. These measures have achieved remarkable results in the prevention and control of wind and sand disasters in the Naiman section of the Beijing-Tongliao Railway, and have been highly recognized by local governments, railway departments and nearby residents.
The shrub sand-fixing forest planted at the Naiman Station in 1985
has a good result, but in fact, the prevention and control process has to overcome many difficulties. You should know that if you want to demonstrate sand prevention and control technology in agricultural and pastoral areas, especially the breeding and breeding technology, in addition to facing serious harm to wind and sand and poor soil, you also have to face challenges such as insufficient professional talents, low professional skills accumulation, and the need to improve the awareness of farmers and herdsmen.
Dare to face challenges directly is the basic quality of scientists. With the support of this spirit of daring to face the challenge, the old webmaster Mr. Wang Kangfu led the scientific researchers in the station to choose Yaoledianzi Village, 5 kilometers away from Naiman Station, as the demonstration village.
At first, the work was difficult to carry out. In order to open up the situation, Naiman Station first carried out a sand control demonstration based on local shrubs in places with severe desertification around the demonstration village, namely the tall mobile dunes area.
According to the arrangements of scientific researchers, the villagers planted sand-fixing forest belts mainly drought-resistant, salt-resistant and wind-resistant local shrub branches such as Artemisia anthracite, small-leafed pheasant and yellow willow when the rainy season came.
result demonstration was very successful!
As the forest belt grows, looking at the flowing sand dunes gradually turning green under the forest belt, the village cadres laughed, the villagers laughed, and the children's laughter also dragged a long lingering sound from the green bush.
June 2021Yoledianzi Village under the shelterbelt
"Desert Village" with fragrant fruits and fruits
In order to further unblock poverty and "desertification", scientists have come up with ways to improve the living standards of villagers to mobilize everyone to participate in desertified land governance and adjust land use methods .
With the support of this idea, Naiman Station chose Yaoledianzi Village, which has the most severe desertification, as a demonstration village, and carried out a series of poverty alleviation demonstration work to increase production and efficiency in the breeding industry, including the introduction of new varieties of wheat, corn, fruits and vegetables, and water, fertilizer, grass and crop management.
This poverty alleviation demonstration work selected three villagers as demonstration households in the demonstration village. Taking P2 watermelons suitable for sandy soil, arid climate, high yield and locally do not have it as a starting point (introduced from Lanzhou, also known as Jinhuabao), we carried out watermelon planting technology experiments and demonstrations based on courtyard scale, including vegetable introduction technology and fruit tree management.
Scientific researchers know that the villagers are looking forward to living a good life, and the station also wants to do some useful things to bring some shining "golden flowers" and hopeful results to the villagers.With such ardent expectations, by the end of that year, the per capita income of the demonstration households exceeded 1,000 yuan.
This is a "big news" for the remote rural areas of Naiman Banner, which was a national poverty-stricken county at the time. In winter, the Naiman Banner Committee and the government set up a watermelon office, which is specifically responsible for guiding, supervising and serving the watermelon planting in the banner. The following year, most of the farmers in Yaoledianzi Village planted watermelons and had a great harvest.
Sandy watermelon after the bumper harvest in 1984
Due to the proper variety selection, suitable soil and climate, scientific water and fertilizer management, the quality of watermelon is also excellent: thin skin, red flesh, crispy texture, few seeds, and sweet taste.
The sandy watermelon of Naiman Banner not only occupy the market in Tongliao City and Chifeng City , but also exported to Liaoning, Jilin and Beijing. It is said that the demonstration households were invited to the fields in the neighboring areas and directly taught watermelon planting. From seed selection, seed treatment to seedling cultivation and field management, it is almost the entire chain.
In the local area, as long as the local watermelon in Naiman Banner is listed, watermelons from other places must be delisted. So Naiman Station has become a "brand" for villagers and melon merchants. If someone asks melon merchants or villagers: "What is the quality of your watermelon?" Many melon merchants or villagers will tell them: "No problem, our cultivation technology and variety selection are supported by the Institute of Desert Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences."
In addition, Naiman Station also introduced and cultivated more than 30 fruit, vegetables and grain varieties, and most of them have achieved success. Coupled with the implementation of major national ecological projects, the Korqin Sand has become the first place in my country to achieve the "overall reversal of regional land desertification".
Not only that, Naiman Station also won the "Successful Performance Award for Saving Land in Arid Areas" awarded by United Nations in 1997. The model of sand prevention and control and scientific and technological poverty alleviation in Naiman Banner was also selected as one of the international sand prevention and control textbooks by United Nations Environment Agency .
Time flies, watermelon has happened twenty or thirty years ago. There are too many scientific researchers left their figures on the land of Korqin Sand. Only with scientific researchers, national support, and people's actions can we dance happily with the sand, dance the green of the "blank" and the harmony of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand, and dance the beauty of the mountains and rivers in the northwest of the motherland.
