Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Parizat Abdu) news: In the cold winter, sunlight filters through the transparent film on the steel-frame greenhouses, casting dappled shadows among the vines. On January 19, 2026, at the facility agriculture base in Jinnan New Village, Cele Town, Qira County, Hotan Prefecture of China's Xinjiang, Tuohesulaiman Tuohutikurban, the director of the village Party committee, along with villagers, was manually pollinating loquat trees. Clusters of white blossoms filled the branches, emitting a delicate fragrance.

"We have 401 greenhouses in the village. In addition to vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, we also grow fruits, such as strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sugarcane, and loquats, generating an annual income of over 1 million yuan (about 143,673.24 U.S. dollars) for the village collective," Tuohesulaiman said proudly, revealing the transformation of facility agriculture in Hotan's desert region.

In 2025, Hotan Prefecture focused on establishing itself as a national vital supply base for high-quality agricultural and livestock products. Leveraging its advantages, it scientifically utilized land resources such as the Gobi desert and sandy areas to deeply implement the national initiative for modernizing facility agriculture. With facility vegetables as the core, the prefecture advanced industrial transformation, achieving remarkable results. By the end of 2025, the cultivated area for desert facility agriculture in Hotan Prefecture had reached 26,400 mu (about 1,760 hectares), with 36,100 greenhouses in operation. Annual vegetable production stood at 220,000 metric tons, generating a total output value of 1.043 billion yuan (about 149.85 million U.S. dollars). In 2025 alone, nearly 3,000 new or upgraded greenhouses were constructed, and an overseas warehouse was successfully established in Kazakhstan, facilitating the export of distinctive agricultural products to international markets.

On the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, once barren expanse has now given rise to tens of thousands of mu of intelligent greenhouses.

At the greenhouse base of Xinjiang Shengshi Huaqiang Agricultural Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shengshi Huaqiang Company"), located within the 10,000-mu (about 666.67 hectares) facility agriculture planting base in Hetian County, Zhang Tietun, a grower managing three strawberry greenhouses, appeared to be "slacking off" while holding his smartphone. "This widget allows me to clearly monitor the temperature, humidity, and crop growth in each greenhouse. I can also control the raising and lowering of the greenhouse quilts and perform precise irrigation, making my job much easier compared to my parents' generation," Zhang Tietun said, pointing to the mini-program on his phone.

Stepping into the strawberry greenhouse he manages, one can see vibrant red strawberries glistening with a tantalizing allure. As the temperature inside the greenhouse changes, the "outer layer" on the roof automatically retracts or extends for ventilation, maintaining a consistent temperature throughout.

Since 2020, Shengshi Huaqiang Company has spent three years constructing a thousand intelligent greenhouses in the desert, equipped with cutting-edge technologies such as soilless cultivation, automated drip irrigation and fertilization systems, one-click adjustable sunshades, and temperature and humidity sensors. These intelligent greenhouses have allowed growers like Zhang Tietun to have the bountiful harvests and sweet rewards brought about by technological advancements.

"A single strawberry greenhouse can generate an annual income of nearly 200,000 yuan (about 28,734.65 U.S. dollars). This year, I'm planning to grow organic melons in two more greenhouses," Zhang Tietun said.

Aerial photo shows the greenhouse base of Xinjiang Shengshi Huaqiang Agricultural Science and Technology Co., Ltd. located in Hetian County, Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Nuerding)

Exploring the scientific utilization of the Gobi desert, sandy areas, and other lands for the development of facility agriculture is one of the crucial measures for advancing modern facility agriculture. In 2025, Hotan Prefecture collaborated with research institutes to tackle core technologies. On the Gobi wastelands in Moyu County and Qira County, techniques such as Gobi leveling, sand-gravel bedding, soil improvement, and water-saving drip irrigation were employed to transform the Gobi into fertile farmland. In Hetian County and Lop County, 12,000 mu (about 800 hectares) of saline-alkali land were reclaimed, enabling the successful cultivation of vegetables like peppers and tomatoes, with an average yield exceeding six tons per mu. Over a dozen practical technologies have turned the once-barren Gobi and deserts into highly productive areas for facility agriculture, paving a replicable and scalable development path.

In April 2025, Xinjiang's facility vegetable industrial cluster project was selected as a national advantageous and characteristic industrial cluster project. This cluster project primarily covers five counties and cities in Hotan Prefecture: Hetian County, Moyu County, Hotan City, Lop County, and Pishan County. Following the implementation of the facility vegetable industrial cluster project, it is anticipated that by 2028, Hotan Prefecture will have essentially established a modern facility vegetable industrial development system characterized by rational layout, regional coordination, land conservation, intelligence and efficiency, green safety, stable supply, and strong capacity to drive farmers' income growth. The focus will be on extending, supplementing, and strengthening the industrial chain in key areas such as production, processing, warehousing and logistics, technology, branding, digital transformation, and public infrastructure. The aim is to build a "Gobi vegetable warehouse" that supplies the entire nation and achieve a total industrial cluster output value of 5 billion yuan (about 718.37 million U.S. dollars) in the region.

On January 13, 2026, in the seedling cultivation area of greenhouses in Bashiqiapale Village, Lop Town, Lop County, mechanized equipment operated in a regular rhythm, seamlessly completing processes such as precise sowing and soil compaction. Here, the collaborative model of "machinery + manual labor" has significantly boosted efficiency and laid a solid foundation for subsequent transplanting and stable yields.

Maisaidi Aixiding, a local grower, spoke with confidence: "We're using high-quality seeds provided through Beijing's pairing assistance program to Xinjiang, with machinery assisting in seedling cultivation and technical personnel offering on-site guidance at any time — we have strong confidence in a bountiful harvest this year!" The batch of pepper, eggplant, and tomato seedlings in front of him, totaling 5,000 trays and 360,000 plants, represented the solid foundation laid for increasing production and income in the new year.

Inside the Modern Agricultural Industrial Park in Moyu County, the construction project for modern facility agriculture and supporting infrastructure covering tens of thousands of mu of Gobi (desert) land is nearing completion. Workers are busy covering the solar greenhouses with thermal insulation films and quilts, while also preparing the seedling cultivation environment inside the greenhouses. In some greenhouses, crops such as eggplants and blueberries have already been planted on a trial basis and are growing quietly.

The project, with an investment of 660 million yuan (about 95.01 million U.S. dollars) by Xinjiang Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Investment (Group) Co., Ltd., includes plans for 750 high-standard solar greenhouses, three supporting cold chain sorting centers, and seven infrastructure projects such as water supply, power supply, and roads. Among these, 234 greenhouses are dedicated to growing storage-resistant vegetables, 216 greenhouses are used for seedling cultivation of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs like licorice, astragalus, and codonopsis, as well as the cultivation of specialty fruits such as winter jujubes and cherries, and 300 greenhouses are specifically for cultivating high-end berries like blueberries. This layout forms a new agricultural pattern of coordinated development among "vegetables, medicinal herbs, and fruits," further optimizing the industrial chain by extending, supplementing, and strengthening it.

Project leader Yang Fan said that in the future, the project will extend the industrial chain around equipment manufacturing, seedling cultivation, and processing and sales, breaking through the limitations of traditional agriculture's "going it alone" and injecting new impetus into industrial revitalization.

The desert facility agriculture in Hotan Prefecture has long surpassed the primary stage of merely growing and selling vegetables and is now climbing towards both ends of the "smiling curve" of the industrial chain. In 2025, Hotan Prefecture promoted the expansion of the industry from single cultivation to a full chain encompassing seedling cultivation, planting, sorting, processing, cold chain logistics, and sales, resulting in an increase in product added value by over 30 percent.

Additionally, through an interest linkage mechanism of "leading enterprises + cooperatives + bases + farmers," Hotan Prefecture has woven scattered farmers into the modern industrial network. Throughout the prefecture, 30,000 farming households have participated through land transfer, employment in the park, cooperative operations, and other means, with an average annual increase in income of 39,700 yuan (about 5,715.23 U.S. dollars) per household. Moreover, over 1,200 local leaders in wealth creation have been cultivated.

Relying on its abundant sunlight and heat resources, as well as its significant temperature variations between day and night, Hotan Prefecture has focused on developing off-season vegetables, distinctive traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, tropical fruits, and other categories, forming a differentiated development model of "one base, one distinctive feature" that effectively enhances the added value of agricultural products.

Currently, the pepino cultivated by Shengshi Huaqiang Company have welcomed the peak harvesting period. "The first batch of mature pepino comes from five cultivation greenhouses, with each greenhouse yielding up to six tons," said Qin Shuangshuang, the person in charge of the 10,000-mu (about 666.67 hectares) facility agriculture planting base in Hetian County. These pepino were planted in July last year and bore fruit in September, with their market availability lasting until May this year. The distinctive varieties and staggered supply have won market recognition.

"Hotan boasts unique sunlight and heat conditions, and the pepino grown in the desert are sweet and of high quality," said Guan Feng, a dealer from Aksu Prefecture, who signed a purchasing agreement on the spot after inspecting the base.

Avoiding homogeneous competition and taking the path of distinctive development is the key for Hotan's desert facility agriculture to expand its market influence and promote income growth. Taking Shengshi Huaqiang Company as an example, today, the cultivation of distinctive crops such as pepino, flat peaches, and new varieties of melons has become the main driver of income growth.

What surprised Muyesaier Niyazimaimaiti, a technician from Ayimake Village in Jiahanbage Township, Moyu County, was that tropical fruits could actually be grown in the desert. With the help of the village work team from the Xinjiang Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ayimake Village began to build a facility agriculture demonstration base in 2021 and has successively trial-planted distinctive fruits such as papayas, dragon fruits, pineapples, guavas, and bananas in 26 greenhouses.

"The yield per mu of the first batch of papayas reached 2,000 kilograms," said Muyesaier. "These fruits are not only sold locally but also marketed nationwide through live-streaming e-commerce, fetching prices more than three times those of ordinary fruits."

Currently, Ayimake Village has constructed over 120 greenhouses. In addition to tropical fruits, villagers also cultivate edible fungi such as morel mushrooms.

Apart from differentiated cultivation, Hotan has also focused on enhancing production-marketing linkages and expanding markets. In 2025, seizing the significant opportunity of the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, Hotan Prefecture established an overseas warehouse for fruit and vegetable exports in Kazakhstan. This "forward warehouse" serves as a tentacle and pivot extending into the Central Asian market, where a large volume of harvested distinctive agricultural products are collected, temporarily stored, and swiftly distributed. This has significantly reduced cross-border logistics costs and time losses.

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