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China sounds retreat against encroaching deserts
Decades of flawed agricultural policies have led to rapid desertification.
from the August 16, 2007 edition
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Villagers in Zhengxin have taken on this challenge, with limited success. When the irrigation channels began to run dry, Lu Xianglin switched from wheat to cotton and fennel on his 12 acres. He also planted trees to protect his fields from sandstorms. He says he still gets good yields using flood irrigation and earns a decent income for his family of six, who live in a walled courtyard house.
Other farmers haven't stuck it out: About 1 in 3 have left Zhengxin in the past 10 years after their wheat crops wilted. Young people who can find jobs in the towns rarely return.
Last week, Mr. Lu joined the other men in his village on a government-arranged trip to see the land that has been set aside for their relocation, nearly 40 miles to the south. The next day, he was back pruning his cotton fields, shaking his head at the plan. The prospect of uprooting his family troubles him, as does the idea of abandoning the land that fed his forefathers. He prefers to stay and keep up the fight.
"With enough water, this problem can be solved," Lu says. "We can plant trees and grass, and they will grow bigger. That will stop the desert."
Experts say that farmers in Zhengxin could switch to drip irrigation to lessen their water intake for growing crops, but warn that it may be too late to reverse the soil erosion. Elsewhere in the region, farmers have erected brick greenhouses this year as part of a plan to grow vegetables using less water. Roadside signs above the windswept plains urge farmers to "Save Water, Protect the Environment."
A legacy of flawed past policies
Elderly residents remember when there was plenty to go around. Hongyashan reservoir, which was built in the 1950s under Mao Zedong's ill-fated "Great Leap Forward" campaign, fed the frontier fields of Minqin, spurring dreams of bumper grain harvests. It was a testament to Mao's dogged belief that man must "use natural science to understand, conquer, and change nature."
But decades of unchecked development, including new upstream cropland, depleted the reservoir, so farmers began sinking wells that sapped the water table and left the soil contaminated with salt. Recent wells go nearly 1,000 feet deep in arid areas.
Today, the reservoir is an expanse of shallow water that occasionally runs dry. A neon sign carries a message from President Hu Jintao, a hydrologist who began his career in Gansu, proclaiming that Minqin must not be lost to the desert.
Heroic posters of Mao still adorn some walls here, but his vow to conquer the desert rings hollow. In Hoanghui, the first village due to move out at the end of August, residents gripe at the government compensation of RMB 3,000 (US$395) per person being offered. To force them out, authorities have turned off wells and stopped farmers from planting their spring crops.
"I have no option," says Zhao Yongfu, a wiry farmer in a baggy blue shirt. "The government tells me to move and won't listen to us."
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