Time - INT (2022-05-23)

As they enjoy a bag of potato
chips or eat fries at a fast-food
outlet, few people are likely to
know where the raw materials
for the popular snacks originate
when they are produced in China.
When they learn that the
answer is the desert, many are
surprised.
Inner Mongolia autonomous
region in North China has the
largest expanse of desertifi ed
and sandy land in the country,
so it faces a severe threat of

In 1978 desertficaton

This year marks the 41st

anniversary of the founding of

the country’s voluntary tree-

planting program, of which Inner

Mongolia is a key part. From

2016 to 2020, work in the region

prevented and controlled the

t t t f Od I

are promising factors for the

success of large-scale potato

planting.”

He stressed the need for con-

stant surveillance of the plants.

“The fi eld was supported by

an irrigation pipeline system, but

I Ch ’ f d

terious circles left by extrater-

restrials, but in fact they are our

potato fi elds.”

By 2020, Ordos was home to

potato fi elds covering 32,780

acres that produced 300,000

metric tons of the crop a year,

the city’s statistics bureau says.

“Potatoes not only bring

wealth to local people, but also

an oasis,” Chen said.

“When my children grow up,

they will proudly see the green

miracle sparked by their father’s

eff orts.”

The government of Inner

Mongolia has developed many

innovative greening solutions

to control the sand and set the

world an example of how to

combat desertifi cation.

A greening campaign in the

Kubuqi Desert has been promot-

ed over the past 30 years, led by

d l d K b h

The humble vegetable is

helping to turn sand into

oasis of green

China Watch materials are distributed by China Daily Distribution Corp. on behalf of China Daily, Beijing, China.

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Potatoes keep desert at bay

Above: Potatoes are seen during the harvest season at a farm in the Kubuqi

Desert, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Below: Potato plants in full bloom

make the desert an oasis of greenery. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

BY YANG WANLI

and YUAN HUI