Straw checkerboard

The straw checkerboard technique is used for fixing sand dunes to fight desertification. Straw of wheat, rice, and reeds are placed in the shape of a checkerboard with half buried. It has a windbreak effect and contributes to soil formation through the increase of organic matter of the surface soil.^[1]

It was conceived at the Shapotou Desert Research Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955^[2] to protect the Baotou–Lanzhou railway crossing the Tengger Desert,^[3] where planting of sand-fixing plants without irrigation was carried out as early as 1956.^[4] It was earlier used in the Soviet Union, which used the technique during the construction of a railway in the Karakum Desert in Central Asia.^[5] It is widely used in China.^[1]

A 2004 study concluded that it is "a very effective technique, with wide application for sand dune fixation both in China and around the world."^[1] while a 2013 study described it as "the most representative antidesertification measure."^[6] Straw checkerboards and planting shrubs are successful methods for mobile sand dune stabilization and desertified grassland restoration in semiarid regions.^[7] Another study found that straw checkerboard barriers are more suitable for sand fixation in weak wind areas, while rocky checkerboard barriers are more suitable in strong wind areas.^[8] Tradtionally done by hand, an automated straw checkerboard laying machine has been developed that is 53 times faster than manual methods.^[9]

It has seen limited use in Iran,^[10] Ghana, Egypt, Mongolia.^[11]