Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On the territory of the dried bottom of the Aral Sea, the area of which reaches 600 thousand hectares, a unique plant is being tested for the first time - Arundo donax, intended for afforestation of saline and wet soils.

Planting work is being carried out on the initiative of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change under the leadership of Professor of the Forestry Research Institute Zinovy Novitsky.

The plants are currently one month old. They are highly drought-resistant, able to grow in difficult conditions and can reach a height of up to 4 meters per year.

The uniqueness of the planting technology lies in the use of root suckers instead of traditional seedlings.

“These are new plants for the drained bottom of the Aral Sea, introduced from other zones. In 1-2 years, this entire area will be planted with Arundo donax plants, as the root suckers sprout. Not only will they help prevent wind erosion with salt, but their stems can also be used for construction, weaving and fodder production,” said Zinovy Novitsky.

Professor Novitsky shared the successful results of the project with his Kazakh colleagues in Astana, where he went at the invitation of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.