කාන්තාරෙ මැදත් වවන කොමඩු

Watermelon-planting in China's largest desert helps sand control, boosts incomes

Planting watermelons in the Taklimakan Desert, China's largest desert, has become a new way of achieving both sand control and raising incomes in Qiemo County of northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The desert county of Qiemo in Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture planted a variety of seed-producing watermelon for the first time in May, and is harvesting over 1,730 hectares of watermelons.

The seeds of the watermelons will be used to make guazi, or baked watermelon seeds, a popular snack in China.

"I'm very glad to harvest such big watermelons. The yield per mu (0.067 hectares) is around 120 kilograms, and we can sell the watermelons for 15 to 20 yuan per kilogram," said local farmer Li Wenbin.

Agricultural technicians made great efforts in upgrading the land quality in the Taklimakan Desert.

"We used four tons of manure from cows and sheep on each mu of land, where we also used biological ways including bacteria to ameliorate the land quality. And then we have harvested great seed-producing watermelons. Each watermelon can produce more than 350 high-quality seeds on average," said Liu Yu, director of the development service center under the Qiemo County Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

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