Introduction to Deserts and Desertified Regions in China - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 16

Box 1.1 (continued)
Yellow sand control project: it is a Sino-Korea cooperation project and
started in 1996. This project, funded by Korea, focused on the observation and
research of desert control technologies and the protective effect of windbreak.
Application of Ludile on sand-fixation plant project: it was a Sino-Japan
cooperation project. Ludile , is a kind of liquid compound fertilizer with high
efficiency. It was widely applied to wheat, corn, vegetables, melons and
fruits in parts of north China. It is strong in absorption and good in granular
formation and can raise yield highly. Through the application to desert plants,
it is proved to be very useful in intensifying granular structure and improving
soil fertility.
Gansu Integrated Desert Control and Sustainable Agriculture Project:
It is a UNDP donor-assisted Project aimed at introduction and assembly
of advanced domestic and overseas technologies to reverse desertification
and develop the sustainable agriculture. Through the implementation of the
project, great advances in equipment introduction, personnel staff training,
establishment of integrated demonstration county, introduction and extension
of new technologies and species, monitoring of changes of desertification and
rangeland management have been made.
LAS Project: started in 1999, is a Sino-Holland project. Through the
determination of such factors as sun radiation, short-wave radiation, average
cloud thickness, atmosphere pressure and rainfall with LAS, water balance in
Minqin desert area can be monitored. This project is still on-going.

5.3 Gansu Desert Control Research Institute (GDCRI)

and Its Mandate in Desert Combating

GDCRI was established in 1959. It is the earliest research institute involved in desert
control in China. It focuses on theoretical and technical research on desertification
combating and ecological restoration in desert areas. It mainly deals with research
and extension of technologies on controlling sand encroachment and combating
desertification, exploration of new measures for protection and integrated utilization
of desert resources with a view to offering technical assistance for the integrated
desert control and sustainable development of agriculture, forestry and animal
husbandry in desert areas. The work of the GDCRI in the early years was about
“pushing back the desert”, 'taming the desert' and other activities unrelated to
desertification control (see Chap. 20 for a discussion of the implications of this
confusion about roles).