Advanced technologies are transforming desertification control in Ordos city, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, enabling the restoration of an average of 10,000 mu (about 667 hectares) of degraded land every day over the past three years.

What once relied heavily on manual labor is now increasingly powered by drones, intelligent machinery, and innovative ecological technologies. In the Mu Us Sandy Land, drones can complete surveying tasks that previously took workers half a day in just three minutes, while Beidou-guided planting machines can plant a seedling in just five seconds. Intelligent sand-barrier laying machines now carry out work that previously required 60 workers.

According to Song Junfeng, director of the Ordos forestry and grassland bureau, more than 2,500 sets of desertification-control equipment have been deployed across the city this year, with mechanized operations covering over 80 percent of key treatment areas.

Innovation is also helping improve seedling survival rates. At a nursery base in Uxin Banner, researchers have developed a biodegradable container seedling technology that replaces soil with a specially formulated mixture of water-retaining agents, rooting stimulants, and nutrients. This technology allows seedlings to survive in sandy environments for 30 to 45 days without rainfall, overcoming traditional seasonal and geographic limitations on afforestation.

The method significantly reduces replanting costs while improving survival rates. More than 50,000 mu of afforestation projects in the Mu Us Sandy Land have adopted the technology, with average seedling survival rates exceeding 75 percent.

Scientific research has become a key driver of Ordos' desertification-control efforts. The city is building an international innovation center for desertification prevention and control while strengthening cooperation with leading research institutions and academic experts to accelerate the application of new technologies.

The results have been significant. Over the past three years, Ordos has completed 35.47 million mu of ecological restoration projects under the sixth phase of China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, of which 23.7 million mu were dedicated to desertification control. The treatment rate of the Kubuqi Desert has reached 50 percent, while 85 percent of the Mu Us Sandy Land has been brought under control.