This paper investigates the effects of different cultivation modes including winter irrigation and zero tillage, crop-grass intercropping, and early spring film mulching on sand entrainment, wind velocity gradient and soil moisture conservation in the middle reaches of the Heihe River in the Hexi Corridor region for the 2001-2002 period. The results showed that all these modes could reduce soil wind erosion and halt sand entrainment to different degrees. Corn-pared with the bare fields exposed by spring plowing, early spring film mulching could increase soil moisture storage by 35.6%. Currently, spring plowing and sowing is a main factor responsible for the occurrence of sand storms and the increased suspended dust. Farmlands in the upper and middle reaches of the Heihe River generate dust transport up to 4.8~6.0 million tons per year, which is higher than that of sandy desert in the same region. In the Hexi Corridor region, the suspended dust amount generated by 1 hm² of farmland was equivalent to that of 1.5 hm² of desert.