(250723) -- NOUAKCHOTT, July 23, 2025 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Hong'en, director of the Livestock Demonstration Center in Mauritania, checks the growth of Juncao grass in a test field at the Livestock Demonstration Center in Idini village, Mauritania, Jan. 18, 2025. More than 80 percent of Mauritania's territory is covered by desert. Scorching heat, drought, poor soil quality, and violent sandstorms make it extremely difficult for plants to survive.
In 2017, China-backed technical cooperation for the Livestock Demonstration Center was officially launched in Idini.
Over the years, Chinese experts have successfully introduced alfalfa and expanded its large-scale cultivation, helping alleviate the local forage shortage. As a result, multiple varieties of forage plants have now taken root in the Sahara Desert. Between 2020 and 2024, the team developed about 20 hectares of desert land for forage plantation trials. (Xinhua/Si Yuan)
