China accelerates the ‘Great Green Wall’ with AI

Smart machines and drones turn the desert into a forest, boosting China’s struggle against desertification and sand storms

In this spring, the challenging task of reforestation on the edge of the desert of Mu US in northern China takes a futuristic air, with drones flying through the air, carrying seedlings through vast sand dunes, while intelligent planting machines cut the sands, planting seedlings accurately.

“These robots take only five seconds to plant a seedling in the desert,” said Gao Fei, while remotely operated the two planting machines.

Gao, who works with the Jintaiming Technology Group, based in the autonomous region of Mongolia Inner, in northern China, explained that these are the intelligent machines of second -generation tree planting. They can completely automate the tree planting process, from loosening the ground with a drill and insert the seedling to watering its roots, cover it with soil and compress it.

“Four of these machines, still in the testing phase, were implemented this year. The production line for the machines has not yet been completely launched, ”said Gao, adding that the company has independent intellectual property rights for intelligent machines.

He continued to explain that the machines are part of advanced technologies such as spiral drilling in the soil, unmanned direction and artificial intelligence to allow the planting of large -scale trees, 24 hours a day, without human intervention. The company is also investing in the development of other smart machines to accommodate different planting scenarios.

The desert is near the irrigated lands of the Hetao Yellow Section, the second largest river in China. Serpenting by the inner Mongolia with large curves, the river extends over 840 km in the region. In addition to the MuS desert, its margins border the deserts Ulan Buh and Kubuqi.

Mongolia interior has identified a total of about 15 million hectares of deserted lands spread across areas governed by seven cities, which are the source and the path of sand storms that affect the Beiji-Tianjin-Hebei region.

To mitigate sandstorms, ensure food safety and protect the yellow river – the Mother River of China – reforestation in the inner Mongolia serves as a fundamental battlefield for the country’s ambitious Forest Forest Program (TSFP), which began in 1978 to combat desertification.

Yan Wei, director of the TSFP Center in Ordos, Mongolia Interior, said that in the Otog Banner reforestation program, where robots are used, this year’s goal is to plant trees in 3,333 hectares of sandy land, with 60% of the work supported by various types of machines.

There are 20 drones used to transport seedlings in the program area, which improves the efficiency of transporting large amounts of seedlings on complex ground.

Meanwhile, the intelligent tree planting machine is able to do ten times more work than a human worker can do in one day, while his cost is only 30% of the cost of labor, said Gao.

He added that the Machine -planted Salix, a species of drought -resistant willow, demonstrated a higher survival rate compared to those manually planted. The company remains optimistic about the market potential for smart planting robots.

China’s expertise and experience in the construction of deserts in deserts gained global recognition. Using grass grids made of wheat straw to stabilize the sand, a vast number of people from all spheres of life has been mobilized to plant trees, expanding the “great green wall”.

According to MA Qiang, deputy director of the Regional Administration of Forests and Pastures of Mongolia Interior, anti-dertification efforts must transcend administrative boundaries. He emphasized that desertification prevention and control should be integrated with new energy initiatives, such as the development of wind and photovoltaic energy projects in desert regions.

With information from Xinhua*