As a crucial point in the lower reaches of the Tarim River's "green corridor," the 33rd Regiment of the Second Division, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, located in the Tiemenguan City area, is situated in a fragile ecological zone sandwiched between the Taklamakan and Kumtag deserts, where wind and sand hazards are prominent.
In recent years, the regiment has deeply advanced the "Three-North Shelterbelt" program, exploring a governance model that synergistically applies biological sand control, engineering sand fixation, and photovoltaic sand management, building a solid ecological barrier upon the desert and forging a path of win-win ecological protection and industrial development.
To address the challenges of vast desert area and scarce freshwater resources, the 33rd Regiment adopted an innovative approach starting in 2014, utilizing local agricultural wastewater from drainage ditches and employing pressurized drip irrigation water-saving technology to establish a foundational windbreak and sand-fixation forest in the heart of the desert.
In the initial phase of the project, the regiment self-funded 2.9 million yuan to establish 1,500 mu of windbreak and sand-fixation forest, planting over 350,000 saxaul and tamarisk trees with a survival rate exceeding 85%.
After continuous expansion and quality improvement, the total area of this ecological windbreak and sand-fixation forest has now expanded to 3,200 mu, forming a contiguous, large-scale desert ecological barrier.
Xiong Changming, a forest ranger with the 33rd Regiment who arrived in 2003, has witnessed the entire process of this forest's development from nothing.
He stated that when he first arrived, the area was all desert, and during the windy, sandy months of March and April, visibility was less than ten meters.
Now that the forest has grown, windy and sandy days have significantly decreased, providing tangible protection for surrounding farmland and road traffic.
This shelterbelt not only effectively curbs the spread of wind and sand but also provides habitat for wildlife such as hares and foxes, continuously enhancing regional biodiversity.
As a key project for comprehensive desertified land management under the "Three-North" program, the 33rd Regiment's 5,000-mu reed straw checkerboard sand barrier project commenced construction in March 2026 and was fully completed by mid-July.
The project uses 1-meter by 1-meter reed straw checkerboards for sand fixation, with the total sand barrier measuring 12,140 meters in length and 217 meters in width, and includes a two-year maintenance period.
The project is adjacent to ten-thousand-mu farmland areas of the regiment's 2nd and 5th companies, where migrating sand dunes previously frequently invaded fields, causing cotton fields to require frequent reseeding and crop yield reductions.
He Rongfeng, Party branch secretary of the 5th Company, explained that in previous years, cotton fields near the sand dunes would have their plastic film and seedlings buried after a major windstorm, requiring reseeding three or four times a year, increasing costs and delaying farming schedules.
This year, after installing the straw checkerboard sand barriers, the farmland reseeding rate has significantly decreased, reducing planting costs for workers and improving cotton growth.
In addition to protecting agricultural production, the project area is only 1.7 kilometers from the residential area of the 5th Company, and the completed sand barriers have notably reduced the impact of sand and dust on residents' lives.
On the foundation of maintaining ecological baselines, the 33rd Regiment is exploring an ecological industrialization path of "photovoltaics + desert control," introducing photovoltaic power station projects that combine clean energy development with desertification management.
The photovoltaic site is simultaneously implementing ecological protection works, with the project party self-funding the installation of over one million square meters of straw checkerboard sand barriers, complemented by a drip irrigation system planting 80,000 saxaul and tamarisk trees, creating a three-dimensional governance pattern of "power generation on the panels, sand fixation under the panels."
Jiang Feng, director of the regiment's Industrial Promotion Center, stated that the regiment has abundant sandy land resources that previously generated almost no economic benefit.
Now, by introducing photovoltaic projects, not only is idle wasteland being utilized, but it also provides energy support for the regiment's industrial development.
The photovoltaic projects can stimulate the development of secondary and tertiary industries within the regiment, increase local tax revenue, and truly realize deriving benefits from the desert.
It is understood that the regiment will leverage its advantages in green electricity resources to continuously extend the desert industry chain, promote the development of characteristic desert industries such as apocynum and cistanche, continuously broaden income channels for workers, and allow the dividends of ecological governance to be steadily released.
The desert control practices of the 33rd Regiment serve as a vivid microcosm of the Xinjiang Corps' efforts to advance the crucial battle of the "Three-North" program.
Through diverse measures and persistent effort, the local area has not only fortified its ecological security defenses but also endowed the desert with new economic value, allowing the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" to take root and bear fruit deep within the vast desert.
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