China News Service, Ordos, October 10. Title: Doctoral workstation "nugging gold" in China's Mu Us Desert
China News Service reporter Li Aiping
On the Mu Us Sandy Land, Wushen Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Ushen Banner Mu Us Sandy Land Forest and Sand Industry Innovation and Entrepreneurship Doctoral Workstation (referred to as the Doctoral Workstation), led by Timur Bagna, is turning the yellow sand here into "gold."
"Currently, the doctoral workstation has established a scientific and technological innovation machinery service team for desertification prevention and control. Focusing on the pain points and difficulties of sand afforestation, it has independently developed 16 types of sand-specific operating machinery such as sand trenchers, double-row pit diggers, and seed drills." On October 10, Timur Bagna said in an interview at the doctoral workstation that after three years of operation, the doctoral workstation is solving the problem of disconnection between scientific research and production, and has achieved remarkable results.
Timur Bagna, who was born in the Mu Us Desert in 1980, said that from his childhood to his youth, he had witnessed the tragic situation of the villagers’ good farmland and homes being buried by the long stretches of yellow sand. For this reason, when he went to college, he did not hesitate to major in wildlife and nature reserve management.
After graduating from Timur Bagna University, he worked on the front line in Mu Us Desert for many years. In 2023, he created a doctoral workstation with the support of the local government. He said: "In recent years, batches of PhDs from universities have been stationed in the desert. Under the guidance of these PhDs, the doctoral workstation has quickly produced research results."
In the past three years, this doctoral workstation has not only introduced edible fungi such as "Jade Fungus" and "Artemisia Fungus", but also built an Edible Fungus Industrial Park in Mu Us Sandy Land. The most noteworthy thing is that with the efforts of the doctoral team, the 115 kinds of "Mu Us Sand" series of forest sand products in 9 categories such as "Sandy Cypress Incense" and "Sandy Cypress Incense" developed by the doctoral workstation have attracted much attention from the industry.
The booming development of doctoral workstations has also led to local people becoming rich.
In Buzhai Gacha, Garutu Town, Wushen Banner, herdsman Saiyinchaoketu deeply cooperated with the doctoral workstation to carry out scientific research and achievement transformation in the sand forest industry. In 2025, he successfully planted saffron, skullcap and other medicinal materials. In 2026, he will further plant licorice and continue to expand the sandy medicinal material planting industry.
Gongjirigala, a herdsman from Huhe Tolgoi Gacha in Galutu Town, Wushen Banner, said: "After using the sand trenching machine developed by the doctoral workstation, afforestation saves time and effort, and labor input is significantly reduced."
According to reports, in 2025, with the help of technical staff at the doctoral workstation, Gongji Rigala successfully experimented with planting poplar, caragana and other psammophytes; in 2026, he continued to expand the scale of planting, relying on the sand industry to expand income-increasing channels, and achieve two-way gains in desertification control and wealth creation.
Li Xiaodong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Wushen Banner Forestry and Grassland Bureau, said that in the past, when controlling desertification in the Mu Us Desert, we focused more on turning the sandy land green; now, the idea is to build a solid ecological foundation with scientific and technological desertification control, maintain green waters and green mountains, and ultimately realize green prosperity in the sandy land and the prosperity of the people. At present, the doctoral workstation is linking more than 10 scientific research institutes and colleges and universities in the country and autonomous regions, bringing together scientific research forces from multiple parties to solve the problem of sandy land management.
Timurbagna told reporters that in the future, the doctoral workstation will deepen the integration of industry, academia and research, continue to promote coordinated efforts in ecological governance, industrial cultivation, and talent introduction, and inject green momentum into the construction of the "Three North" project, rural revitalization, and high-quality local economic and social development.
