Sand-blown winds have become less aggressive in northeast China's Jilin Province after trees were planted in millions of hectares of semi-arid land.

Jilin province, a major commodity grain base, used to be threatened by sand, drought and waterlogging for decades. In 1978, a hectare of farmland yielded less than 1,500 kg of crops.

To prevent further decline of agricultural production in the province, the government began to plant more trees in 1978. To date, 1.18 million hectares of waste land have been covered with grass, bushes and trees.

The afforestation campaign has increased the unit yield of crops by 360 percent and provided more fuel wood for local residents.

Jilin has pumped 900 million yuan (about 108 million US dollars) into afforestation, with more than 40 percent of the funds coming from local farmers.

In the next ten years, the province plans to plant trees in another 410,000 hectares of land to shield farm land from the menace of sandstorm.