During the Great Leap Forward, irrigation efforts attempted to make China’s dry western regions into arable land. But farmers are losing the battle against the deserts, which now cover one-third of the country. From AP:
In a problem that is pervasive in much of China, over-farming has drawn down the water table so low that desert is overtaking farmland. Authorities have ordered farmers here in Gansu province to vacate their properties over the next 3 1/2 years, and will replace 20 villages with newly planted grass in a final effort to halt the advance of the Tengger and Badain Jaran deserts. [Full text]
