Xinjiang: Productivity versus pollution

Farmers in China's arid western regions have long regarded plastic film as a boon for business, but the environmental problems resulting from its use are prompting scientists to look for alternatives, as Gao Bo reports from Urumqi.

For the past three decades, farmers in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have been masters at using polyethylene film to boost crop yields and reduce the incidence of disease, but now the material is coming under increasing fire from environmentalists and agro-economists who say it causes more problems than it solves.

In many parts of the world the material is used as a cheap alternative to glass greenhouses, but in Xinjiang, the farmers use a "plastic mulch" technique in the cultivation of more than 20 crops, including cotton, corn, and tomatoes. Huge swaths of sheeting are laid on the ground and then pierced at regular intervals to allow crops to be planted.