A groundbreaking project in Shapotou district, Zhongwei, Ningxia, is making strides in combating desertification by innovatively using desert cyanobacteria.
It has achieved significant progress in the large-scale cultivation of desert cyanobacteria and the development of artificial cyanobacterial crusts.
The large-scale cultivation base, which includes solar greenhouses and cyanobacteria cultivation ponds, spans 3,000 square meters and has an effective cultivation volume of approximately 500 metric tons. Each batch of cyanobacteria cultivation (lasting 7-12 days) yields about 720 liters.
The artificial cyanobacterial crust seed cultivation base covers around 30 mu (2 hectares). The project promotes the formation of biological soil crusts by artificially inoculating the sand surface with cyanobacteria and other cryptogams.
Once formed, these crusts effectively stabilize the sand, achieving in one year what would naturally take over a decade. This innovative approach has earned cyanobacteria the nickname "desert ecosystem engineers".
The success of this large-scale cultivation marks a new path in addressing the ecological challenges of land desertification and environmental restoration.
Since water cultivation started on July 1, 14 cyanobacteria ponds have been utilized, producing 10 batches and over 100 ponds of cyanobacteria. The average fresh algae yield per pond is about 2 kilograms. Since seeding began, nearly 40 tons of finished inoculation material have been spread, covering an area of 202 mu.