China's 'sand-eating monster' devours 40 acres of desert a day, likened to a giant money-printing machine

The center of the Tarim Basin (in Xinjiang, China) is the Taklamakan Desert - the largest desert in China and the second largest in the world. 

The Taklamakan "Sea of ​​Death" covers an area of ​​up to 320,000 square kilometers with an extremely harsh climate. It is a fact that the third largest country in the world has suffered from desertification for the past 70 years. 

The Taklamakan Desert covers an area of ​​up to 320,000km ² .

The most serious desertification is in Northwest China, North China. Every time there is a big sandstorm, Beijing, Tianjin, Xi'an and other cities will be covered with yellow sand.

To green the Taklamakan desert in particular and many other desert/arid areas in general, China has made great efforts in inventing machines that can turn "dead lands" into green, economically viable places. 

China's "sand-eating monster"

In its long-term fight against desertification, China has cultivated a "sand-eating monster" that can make 40 acres of sand disappear in a day . This "monster" was invented by China in 2016.

News.sciencenet.cn reported at that time that this "sand-eating monster" is a large vehicle - designed to help people in desert areas manage sand and plant trees (turn deserts into land for growing trees) invented by Beijing Forestry University (China) 6 years ago.

It is a self-propelled equipment integrating the functions of three-dimensional sand fixing, spraying, loose grass planting, stump cutting and irrigation . It is mainly used in the fields of windbreak and sand fixing, environmental management and vegetation restoration in deserts, sand areas, Gobi regions and desertification areas in China.

China has invented a machine that can turn "dead lands" into green, economic places. 

It is understood that the multifunctional three-dimensional sand-fixing vehicle/vehicle developed by Professor Liu Jinhao of Beijing Forestry University can promote the greening of deserts, and play an important role in windbreak, sand fixation and ecological improvement in deserts and sandy border areas in the country.

Very optimal efficiency

The tree planting efficiency is 2,000 seedlings per hour, the shrub cutting efficiency is 2,860 square meters per hour, and the plant spraying efficiency is 0.61 hectares per hour.

China is a populous country and needs a lot of arable land. If we do not fight desertification, it will be a waste of land resources and will greatly affect grain production and the development of livestock farming.

This vehicle is designed to help people in desert areas manage sand and grow crops.

The machine is used in the field of windbreak and sand fixing.

Despite these difficulties, China has made great efforts. Over the past 40 years, the country has planted 66 billion trees in its desert areas to green up.

This is the effort of countless people "fighting" with sand from generation to generation. With the birth of "sand-eating monsters" , people in arid desert areas have been greatly empowered.

In just one day, it can "swallow" 40 acres of sand, helping to process the desert into land for people to grow crops. In 1 hour, this "monster" can plant 2,000 seedlings in an hour.

What's more, the machine only takes 3 to 6 months to complete a desert area that initially took many people a year to process.

Thanks to that, it can improve crop productivity, helping people have a steady income every year.

Growing plants in the desert is extremely difficult:

First is choosing a location, not all deserts can grow plants, you have to choose a sandy area with underground water. Therefore, desert farming usually starts from the edge of the desert, from the outside in.

Once a site has been found, the tree planting project cannot be carried out easily without choosing the right tree species.

To be precise, initially, desert plants were grown with low shrubs, such as sea buckthorn and needle grass Achnatherum splendens.

Second, the weather in the desert is very bad, the sun is hot during the day, and the temperature drops at night. Whenever there is a sandstorm, the sand can destroy crops, and strong winds can uproot trees.

Therefore, when technology comes into play, these difficulties are partly overcome, helping people increase production and improve daily life.