Farming-Pasturing Area Faces Rapid DesertificationExperts have asked for ecological improvement efforts in this area of China where farming and the raising of livestock take place.Overgrazing has resulted in desertification to a certain degree of about 80 percent of the 574,700 - square kilometer of pasture in the co-developing area. The same thing is happening on the 519,000 square kilometers of farmland, 45 percent of the belt has been covered with sand. The co-developing area, a joining belt of farming and pasture industries, runs through 12 provinces and autonomous regions from northeast to southwest. With some 1.1 million square kilometers, the belt is facing the worst vegetation damage in the country. Horqin Desert, Muus Desert, Tengger Desert and Badain Jaran Desert are still spreading by several thousand hectares each year. Han Jianguo, an expert in research of pasture ecology at China Agricultural University, said the belt, where many rivers' sources or upper reaches are located, plays a crucial role in sustaining crop yields and building up a barrier from sand and heavy winds for the lower reaches. To curb the ecological problems, experts suggest the raising of livestock become the area's pillar industry, increasing its output value to over 70 percent of the area's total. They also favor rotating between farming and raising livestock in one-half or one-third of the belt to improve farmland fertility and ecological conditions. Harsh farming conditions have resulted in low yields and poor living conditions in the belt. Statistics show 61 counties in the area's 75 banners (counties) are in poverty, with 16 listed among the nation's poorest counties. |
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