[Global Times-Global Network Reporter Wei Wei, Xu Qingyao] "I was 'planting grass' in Mengcao!" Malaysia's Sin Chew Daily reporter Xu Junjie sighed after visiting Mengcao Caobo Garden: "You are doing a great project, and you are writing the 'equivalent equation' that will allow human beings to survive in the future."
As an important stop for the Inner Mongolia tour of the "Day China" international media exchange project in 2025, this largest germplasm resource library in Asia has made reporters from all over the world feel deeply. Xu Junjie said that in his hometown of Malaysia, there is abundant rainfall and grass and trees grow freely all year round. People’s biggest trouble is that they are busy with weeding, while the people in Inner Mongolia are exploring, developing and cultivating various grass species, turning the “desert into an oasis” and striving to practice the amazing changes in ecological restoration. In order to turn "research into results", countless unknown scientific researchers have put their efforts behind the scenes. They build archives for every plant and every piece of soil, and even weeds have their own "identity card". Inner Mongolia's awe and foresight for the ecological environment have moved journalists from all over the world.
According to reports, since its establishment in 2001, Mengcao focuses on the breeding, processing, and promotion and application of ecological grass, forage and lawn grass. Relying on "regional seed source" and "digital technology", it provides comprehensive technology and product services in the entire chain of grass seed industry, and is committed to using Chinese grass seeds to enrich the Chinese grasslands. In the Mengcao Caobao Park in Hohhot City, 65,000 germplasm resources, 170,000 specimens, and 1.65 million soil, national seed safety is protected here; 280,000 mu of good seed breeding and forage bases, nearly 33 million mu of ecological types are managed, and the results of ecological restoration in Inner Mongolia are seen here; 330,000 square meters of seed production and seedling greenhouse, a smart factory with an annual output of 300 million plant seedlings, the future of seeds set sail here.
These seemingly cold numbers are behind the persistence of grassland restorators collecting seeds in extreme cold of minus 30℃ and improving the sand at high temperatures of 40℃. From the Kubuqi Desert in the "Sea of Death" to the Chilechuan Grassland where "the wind blows the grass and sees cattle and sheep", the ecological governance project completed by the Mengcao Ecological Restoration Team is just like a grassland version of the epic "Sand Dunes". In some countries, people use turf to decorate their gardens; in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, people use grass seeds to protect civilization.
Turn seeds into ropes and allow seeds to sit on the "accelerated spiral tower". The endless black technology for sand control is turning deserts into oasis. Seed rope is a new sowing method. It is mixed with seed packs, microbial fertilizers, water retention agents, etc. and woven into the degradable paper rope. The artificial intelligence operation platform is used to carry seed rope seed robots to meet the needs of large-scale, sustainable and precise sand prevention and control. Through environmental control technology, the spiral breeding tower allows grass seeds to grow no longer subject to environmental, regional and seasonal restrictions, and can grow in just 7-10 days. Based on the desert control specifications given by the "standard", Mengcao researchers screened high-quality grass seeds with strong stress resistance and wide application range for sand control from an intelligent three-dimensional library that stored 4,500 tons of various seeds according to local conditions.
The grass industry practice in Inner Mongolia is not only planting grass, but also weaving safety nets for the earth. As the world is looking for answers in the climate crisis, the grasslands of Inner Mongolia have planted the seeds of hope.
