A grassland restoration project powered by aerial seeding technology kicked off Tuesday in Manas County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The project is aimed at reversing grassland degradation caused by overgrazing.

The seven-day project will cover 28,300 hectares of grassland in the southern mountainous region of Manas County. As many as 150 tons of seeds will be sown for five different kinds of grass, including Siberian lymegrass and tall wheatgrass, which are all high-quality forage grass suitable for the local altitude, climate and soil type.

The project is part of China's national program for converting traditional grazing land back into grassland. China has invested heavily in reseeding the degraded pastures for four consecutive years to improve the grassland ecology and realize the healthy and sustainable development of animal husbandry.

Ideal for plateaus and mountainous areas, aerial seeding is a technique of sowing seeds by spraying them through drones, planes or helicopters. Characterized by fast speed, low cost and wide range, this technique is playing an increasingly important role in grassland ecological construction. 

(Edited by Zhu Yingming)

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