Can Melons Combat Desertification? An Ecology Postgrad’s Eight-Year Farming Journey Says Yes

This episode was recorded in the deserts of Alxa, Inner Mongolia, by Qihua, who oversees climate change and small-scale ecological farming research at Foodthink, alongside two guests. At the end of August 2022, the three sat beneath a large tree in an oasis within the Tengger Desert. You might catch the sound of wind whipping the sand in the background, along with birdsong, and the occasional whine of mosquitoes and flies drifting past.

This episode features two guests. The first is Ma Yanwei, who holds a master’s degree in ecology from Beijing Normal University. He founded the Alxa Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm, hoping to rehabilitate the desert landscape by cultivating melons. The second is Tiantian, who left Shanghai after eight years of living and working there to join Foodthink’s ecological agriculture internship programme, taking up a placement at Zhiliangtian Farm.

After eight years in business, how is the ecological farm faring in the desert? And how profoundly can a gap year spent on a farm reshape a young person’s life?

Episode Guests

Ma Yanwei

An organic farmer working on the edge of the desert. Beyond cultivating the land, he enjoys reading and long journeys. He hopes to remain firmly grounded in the earth while still looking up to the stars.

Lei Tiantian

An advocate of slow food and a life spent travelling. A workaholic at times, yet dreaming of living as a nomad. Tending to the fields and cooking are her surefire ways to unwind. She writes under the pen name ‘Tianshe Laoweng’, harbouring a quiet dream of sharing a neighbourhood with the poet Su Dongpo.

Episode Host

Qihua

Stepping out of the comfort zone of everyday life to look around; it’s a joy to visit the desert and converse with ecological farmers who ‘cultivate melons not for the harvest’.

Founded by Ma Yanwei, a master’s graduate in ecology, the ‘Alxa Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm’ spans approximately 1,000 *mu* (c. 67 hectares), with 160 *mu* dedicated to cultivation. The farm grows millet, melons, fruits, and vegetables, with honeydew as the star crop. Photograph: Xique Popo (Auntie Magpie)

Trained in ecology, Ma Yanwei joined the Alxa SEE Ecological Association in 2005. Following his departure in 2015, he put down roots in Alxa and established the Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm.

Guest Tian Tian (left), this episode’s host Qi Hua (centre), and Foodthink editor Zai En whip up a lavish platter of pumpkin pancakes using pumpkins grown right on the Zhiliangtian farm. Tempted to experience this kind of life for yourself? Consider joining our ‘Ecological Agriculture Intern’ programme.

After the unusually persistent rainfall of summer 2022, the final crop of melons at the Alxa Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm was left unharvested. Here is the last remaining melon, destined to decompose back into the soil.

Wild sand chives, a cherished foraging food for locals in Alxa, sway in the desert with their delicate rose-pink flowers.

Timestamps

01:43 We recorded this episode beneath a large tree by Lake Chagan on the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert in the Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, accompanied by the sound of the wind and chirping insects.03:28 Why did our guest, Ma Yanwei, originally decide to work in the Alxa Desert, and how did he go on to found the Alxa Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm to grow melons?

07:07 Desert onion, a wild desert vegetable favoured by locals in Alxa, has recently started appearing alongside lamb rolls in hotpot restaurants. However, the unusually dry climate in 2022 delayed its growth by a full two months.

09:42 Melons are the farm’s main crop. Why did yields drop so significantly in 2022?

17:04 After seven or eight years working in an office in Shanghai, LeiTiantian, an intern in Foodthink’s Lianhe Programme, came to live and work on the desert farm. How did her feelings shift from initially feeling like an exile in ancient times to unapologetically making a big batch of pumpkin pancakes with her own homegrown pumpkins?

22:00 A soul-searching question for Tiantian: after completing her farm internship, will she truly choose to embrace the “new-generation farmer” lifestyle in the future?

23:40 We ask Ma Yanwei: what is the daily reality of China’s new generation of farmers as he has observed them over the years? What do they usually talk about when they get together?

31:14 Let’s talk about the origins of the Alxa Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm. Has the farm still been running at a loss since it began operations in 2015?

34:16 Partnering with Foodthink to recruit interns: why has farm life suddenly become so much more appealing?

38:22 Through their ecological farming practices, what improvements or efforts has Zhiliangtian Farm made towards the desert’s ecological environment?

42:34 “Eating one melon from Alxa Zhiliangtian Ecological Farm helps restore one square metre of desertified land.” Does that sound like an exaggeration? Can fertile fields in the desert also support rich biodiversity?

46:55 Zhiliangtian Farm’s three seven-year plans: how can we help ecological farmers go further? If you’d like to join an established farm, learn from experienced growers, minimise trial-and-error costs, and quickly pick up agricultural skills, you’re welcome to apply for Foodthink’s “Ecological Agriculture Internship” programme. Applications close today!

About the Ecological Farm Internship Programme

Foodthink’s second Ecological Agriculture Internship Programme is now accepting applications, closing today! In 2022, 18 young people from diverse backgrounds participated in the inaugural programme, travelling to 12 ecological farms across China to successfully complete internships lasting anywhere from three months to a year. We hope these ecological farms can document and share their valuable experience in farm management, production techniques, sales, and marketing for young people hoping to return home and pursue ecological agriculture. Meanwhile, interns from varied backgrounds can contribute their own strengths, bring fresh energy to the farms, and reduce their own learning and trial-and-error costs before eventually starting their own ventures back home. If you too dream of becoming a young returnee farmer and working in ecological agriculture, don’t wait—fill out the application form now!

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Podcast Production Team

Concept & Planning: Qihua

Production: Xiaoputao

Cover Art: Wan Lin

Music: Banong

Editing: Xiao Jing

Contact Email: xiaojing@foodthink.cn

Can Melons Combat Desertification? An Ecology Postgrad’s Eight-Year Farming Journey Says Yes | Food Talk Vol. 16