Flowers that offer twin benefits to desert
Print Edition
Sprawling fields of desert plants and a large peony field can be seen alongside a highway that runs along the edge of China’s eighth largest desert, the Maowusu.
The 53 hectares of peonies are owned by Great Wall Water Supply Ltd of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The firm is testing the plantation of the flowers as an alternative desert plant.
“Ordinary desert plants like willow and date trees are effective to curb erosion and fight sandstorms, but it is difficult to make money from them, so we decided to nurture plants that have both economic and environmental gains,” said Zhang Shengren, a peony specialist and manager of the field.
The Great Wall company started planting peonies in the desert in 2015 but efforts had failed until Zhang came to the company in 2016. Zhang had spent 10 years studying peony plants in Japan.
“Peonies like damp and cold conditions, and the desert is far from an ideal place for them. But on the other hand, once the plants survive, their roots go rather deep and can live to 100 years, so they are also expected to be effective in curbing sand erosion,” Zhang said.
The Maowusu Desert covered over 70,000 square kilometers in 2005 encompassing areas of Ningxia, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia region in China’s northwest, but its area has been shrinking over the past years, due to consistent environment efforts.
Average precipitation in Ningxia is only 200 millimeters every year, and evaporation is over 1,600 millimeters. “Water is precious here, we keep the water dripping device as close to the seed roots as possible,” Zhang said.
Peonies consume around 45,000 cubic meters per hectare, more than other desert plants. “As peonies grow, their roots will go deep, and water consumption will drop,” he said.
“This is a whole new challenge for me. The most important job is to find the type of peony that can survive and thrive in the desert.”
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