North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has made progress in combating desertification by shifting from labor-intensive methods to a science-driven, large-scale, and intelligent approach, significantly boosting the effectiveness of sand control across key desert regions.

In early February, while temperatures in the Mu Us Sandy Land remain below sub-zero, preparations for spring afforestation are already underway. At a 50,000-mu (3,333 hectares) sand control project in Otog Banner, Ordos city, teams are using the winter soil-freezing period — when dunes are relatively stable — to complete full-chain preparations covering equipment, technology, seedlings, and monitoring.

Veteran technician Tian Yanjun, who has worked on the desert front line for more than a decade, said the transformation has been profound. "Sand control has moved from manpower-heavy operations to machinery-led, smart solutions," he noted.

Once one of China's most severely desertified areas, the Mu Us Sandy Land spans Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Shaanxi province, and Ningxia Hui autonomous region, where shifting dunes once made manual work extremely challenging.

Today, advanced technologies have sharply improved efficiency and precision. Excavators guided by the Beidou navigation system, automated tree-planting robots, and multifunctional sand-fixing vehicles are now widely deployed, cutting labor costs while enabling standardized, accurate, and highly efficient operations.

Mechanized sand control now covers 54 percent of Inner Mongolia, exceeding 60 percent in major sandy areas such as the Mu Us Sandy Land and Kubuqi Desert.

The ecological gains are also translating into improved livelihoods. In Ordos' Hanggin Banner, many herders who once battled encroaching sand now work in ecological industries close to home. Local resident Aotegenghua leads a sand control cooperative, organizing more than 50 farmers and herders each spring to install sand barriers, maintain seedlings, and manage shrubs.

"Sand used to bury houses and block roads. Now it's a resource — planting trees and protecting forests brings in real income," she said.

Across Alshaa League's Ulan Buh Desert, sand-resistant plants such as saxaul and caragana stabilize dunes and underpin growing desert-based industries. In Alshaa Right Banner, herder Xu Mingwen has planted over 50,000 mu of saxaul trees and grafted 10,000 mu with cistanche, lifting both his own income and that of local communities.