Villagers in Linze county, Zhangye city in Northwest China's Gansu province, use nylon mesh on Thursday to press desert sand into a terrace before planting it with drought resistant plants. The farming method has been proven effective and the sand plants, such as haloxylon ammodendron and cistanche salsa, have brought economic benefits to the area. The county has turned 25,333 hectares of desert into terraces using this method, of which 14,666 hectares have been planted.

Villagers plant haloxylon ammodendron on Thursday in a desert area separated into terraces by nylon mesh in Linze county of Northwest China's Gansu province.

Villagers plant haloxylon ammodendron, a sand-growing plant, in Linze county of Northwest China's Gansu province on Thursday. The county is on the southern margin of the Badain Jaran Desert and two-thirds of its territory is inside the Gobi desert.

A villager uses nylon mesh to fix the sands into blocks.