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]