Abstract
This research examines the economic backwater region of North-West China. The aim is to identify what kind of changes have emerged in the management techniques of noubokurinka due to the entry of corporations into willow production and its usage. The methodology involved interviewing the noubokurinka of W village who produce willow regarding the desert plantations of Inner Mongolia. This region is typical of an area that has promoted its economy and at the same time desert plantations through the combination of enterprise and farming. Willow is one of the most prolific species of tree in desert areas as it is suitable for securing areas of sand and sand dunes. Up to now it was used as fuel or sold as raw material in craftwork and construction, but it was only ever harvested in small quantities with the majority left to run wild. Companies entered the market from 1999 onwards causing the use of this left-over product to rise dramatically and presenting willow plantation farmers with an opportunity for improving development. As a result, a new source of income became available during the winter months while the salary of noubokurinka simultaneously increased. Year by year the benefits became clear. However because harvest and plantation rely solely on manual labor, large scale management is no more than the accumulation of small scale management and there are none of the usual merits. In the future, mechanization will be essential to raise levels of efficiency at harvest time in order to realize sustainable development in desert regions. As well as simply collecting willow for use as raw material there needs to be growth of production via the creation of a system that increases added product value via techniques such as secondary processing.
