China takes advantage of snow rain to plant trees in the desert

Severe snow rains devastated China in recent days, welcomed by farmers in the northwestern region. They are racing against time to plant grass and trees on the edge of desert land.

"We mobilized thousands of farmers to sow seeds and seeds on 30,000 hectares of sandy land," said Zhang Xuemin, Minqin county vice president in Gansu province. District officials want to use planes to seed, thus increasing the area of ​​land covered by trees.

Vegetable field after a snow shower in Cam Ranh province.(Photo: China.cn)

Minqin is a groove sandwiched between two expanding deserts Tengger and Badain Jaran (the fourth largest desert in the world). During the last snowstorm, rainfall fell to 11 mm in this district, many times larger than just 0.5 mm in normal winters.

Zhang said snow and frost caused $ 2.7 million in damages due to direct losses, but it also brought a rare opportunity to improve the ecology, as the snow melts had soaked into drylands. Local farmers did not waste time. Many people also abandoned their plan to repair damaged greenhouses due to snow to participate in desert planting.

In the time before, during and after the lunar new year, China experienced snow storms that were considered the biggest in half a century in this country.