China News Service, Lanzhou, March 17 (Wang Muyu, Zhang Yunwen) "I saw sand when I was born, saw sand when I was in elementary and middle school, studied sand when I went to college, and have been dealing with sand all my life at work..." Gansu Province Xu Xianying, a researcher at the Desert Control Research Institute, was born in Minqin County, Wuwei, Gansu Province. He said in a recent interview that he has been with sand since he was a child and devoted himself to desert control. At the beginning of this year, Xu Xianying was awarded the title of "National Outstanding Engineer".
Xu Xianying (left) is studying the root system of psmophytes. (File photo) Photo by Zhang Yunwen
When Xu Xianying was a child, she felt that sand was both hateful and lovable. What's deplorable is that sand will bury farmland and interrupt crops. Our fathers had to insert some branches on the ridges of the fields to form "wind walls" to protect the fields and crops. The lovely thing is that Dahongliu Lingzi has left behind the laughter of childhood. There are some Elaeagnus and Poplar trees on the sand. When the weather is good, you can play with your friends. The sand dunes have become a happy paradise for childhood.
In the 1980s, after Xu Xianying graduated from Inner Mongolia Forestry College, she resolutely returned to her hometown to renew her relationship with the desert. She then worked at the Gansu Provincial Desert Control Research Institute in Wuwei City and started desert control at the frontier of the desert in Gansu. Work.
In 1986, Xu Xianying participated in the national "Seventh Five-Year Plan" research project "Research on Selection of Suitable Tree Species and Stress-Resistant Afforestation Technology in Salinized Sand Land" undertaken by the Gansu Provincial Desert Control Research Institute, and implemented afforestation experiments in the vast sand sea. . After five years, the project team successfully selected Dongjiang Shaguai Zao, Red-skinned Shaguai Zao, Gansu Tamarix, and Tamarix short-spike, which are suitable for afforestation on saline sandy land and are highly resistant to stress, enriching the local afforestation options. Tree species, these tree species have been widely used in afforestation production.
Xu Xianying is observing the growth of Haloxylon ammodendron. (File picture) Photo by Zhang Yunwen
After that, Xu Xianying participated in the national "Eighth Five-Year Plan" collaborative project "Research on Shelterbelt Construction and Water Balance in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas" and was mainly responsible for soil moisture measurement in sandy areas. He soaked in the experimental area in the desert every day, leaving early and returning late, eating and sleeping in the open air. After two years of unremitting efforts, Xu Xianying cracked the hard nut and successfully completed the scientific research task.
Young Xu Xianying was hired as an engineer and became the backbone of the institute. She went to rural areas, ran in the field, arranged experiments, measured results, wrote research plans and summaries, and presided over or participated in many major scientific research projects. Through systematic research, he found out the salt tolerance limits of various plants, and put forward unique insights into grazing in sand-enclosed areas for afforestation and grassland cultivation...
Starting in the 1990s, people from the mountainous areas of Gulang County, Wuwei City relocated to Huanghua Huanghuatan Village in Tan Township, but was soon driven back to the mountains by the invading Tengger Desert from the south. To this end, the “Treatment, Monitoring and Sand Industry Development of Key Sand Hazard Areas on the Edge of Gansu Hexi Oasis”, which is a key scientific and technological project in Gansu Province’s “Tenth Five-Year Plan”, was quickly implemented. The project is hosted by Xu Xianying, and the test site is in Huanghuatan Village.
Xu Xianying (left) is testing the developed grass-sand barrier sand press. (File picture) Photo by Zhang Yunwen
Xu Xianying led the research team to live and eat with local farmers. They walked more than ten kilometers to and from the sandy area every day, setting up sand barriers and planting trees with everyone. After four years of hard work, Xu Xianying's research team finally established a "four-belt-in-one" oasis in the village, consisting of "frontier wind-proof sand forest belt - sand-fixing forest belt - living plant sand barrier and sand-blocking belt - sand closure and forestation and grass cultivation belt" The edge windbreak and sand fixation management model was tested and demonstrated on 3,000 acres, effectively controlling local sand damage.
Known as the "Chinese Rubik's Cube for Sand Control," the sand barrier grass grid is currently a commonly used means of engineering sand suppression. It uses bundles of discarded wheat straw to spread on the sand in a grid shape, and then rolls it into the sand with a shovel. Leave half of the wheat straw standing naturally on the four sides, and then move the sand in the center of the square to the roots of the surrounding wheat straw so that the wheat straw stands firmly on the sand to block the flow of sand. However, this method relies on the "human sea tactic". With the shortage of labor and rising costs, it has become a constraint for desertification prevention and control.
Xu Xianying’s team was initially inspired by the principle of a unicycle. They used people to pull the unicycle and let the wheels replace shovels. Later, they installed a traction system on the sand pressing equipment. After repeated practice, they developed the fourth-generation sand barrier machine "small hand-held type". Sand barrier machine". The new generation machine's climbing ability, groove depth and operating specifications achieve satisfactory results. Each machine can complete 40 to 50 acres of work in a day, and the efficiency is 4 to 6 times that of manual labor. It can save more than 250 yuan (RMB) per acre of land.
Xu Xianying has made outstanding achievements in the field of desertification control. In 1996, he was sent to the College of Agriculture of Wyoming State University in the United States as a visiting scholar. From then on, he began to examine desertification prevention and control from an international perspective, constantly participated in international projects, and interacted with international governance. Sand people communicate frequently.
He has participated in the "Gansu Desert Comprehensive Management and Sustainable Agriculture" project assisted by the United Nations Development Program, and the national international scientific and technological cooperation project "China-United Nations Cooperation on African Water Action-Technical Cooperation in Desertification Prevention and Control and Sand Industry Development in African Desertification Countries" and "China-UN Cooperation on African Water Action-Research on Drought Early Warning Mechanism and Adaptation Technology in Libyan Desert Areas."
"In the process of foreign cooperation and exchanges, we not only established a profound friendship with them, but also told the story of Gansu's desertification control to the world." Xu Xianying said.
"The title of 'National Outstanding Engineer' is not mine alone, it is an honor that belongs to the entire desert control industry and Gansu desert control people." Xu Xianying, who retired last year, is still busy with some projects and visits desert areas from time to time. Active on the “stage” of desertification control. (End)
