The Gobi desert where "the wind blows stones and runs, and there is no grass everywhere", is now fragrant with fruits and vegetables. In recent days, in The industrial vegetable cultivation workshop of Zhangye Haisheng Modern Agriculture Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhangye Haisheng") modern agricultural intelligent greenhouse in Zhangye Haisheng Modern Agriculture Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhangye Haisheng") has entered the harvest season with products such as skewered tomatoes and mini bell peppers. Fresh vegetables just picked from the fruit and vegetable picking area are packed in batches, and several large transport trucks are loaded to deliver orders to customers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou to supply the post-holiday market.
Technology empowers the Gobi Wonders
Starting from Zhangye City, go south for more than 30 kilometers along National Highway 227 and enter the territory of Minle County. On the east side of the national highway, this place was once called The Northern Beach, which, as the name suggests, is a vast Gobi desert. Due to drought and lack of water and gravelly soils, it was previously not suitable for agricultural development, and was once a "no man's land" at the junction of Ganzhou District and Minle County.
Compared with the southern region of Minle County, the altitude here is low, close to Ganzhou, located under the Qilian Mountains, the terrain is open, the sunshine resources are particularly rich, the average annual sunshine time can reach 3360 hours, the temperature difference between morning and evening is large, coupled with the pure and pollution-free ice and snow meltwater of the Qilian Mountains, the water quality is excellent, and the development of modern cold and drought agriculture here has a unique advantage.
In recent years, Zhangye City, Gansu Province, has actively built a solid ecological security barrier in the western part of the country, accelerated the promotion of green transformation and high-quality development, and "asked for arable land from the Gobi, water from conservation, and output from science and technology." The Minle County Eco-Industrial Park has also ushered in transformation and upgrading, and a number of new ecological industries have developed rapidly here. Founded in 2017, Zhangye Haisheng is the "rising star" in this park, using digital facilities to develop cold and dry agriculture, leading the development of the fruit and vegetable industry, and empowering with science and technology to create miracles in the Gobi Desert.
Walking into the modern smart greenhouse of Zhangye Haisheng, the sunlight is transmitted from the transparent roof of about three stories high, and the fresh bunches of tomatoes grow in bunches on rhizomes more than 5 meters high, layer by layer, dense and fat. Farmers in protective clothing drive small trailers and shuttle through the demarcated areas to pick, completely without the traditional agricultural "facing the loess with their backs to the sky", just like a modern "agricultural factory".
Based on the advantages of Zhangye Gobi Desert with a large area and sufficient solar and thermal resources, the Haisheng Modern Intelligent Greenhouse Industrialization Cultivation Demonstration Project expands the agricultural foundation of Gobi facilities in accordance with the basic principles of "not drilling a well, not breaking through the total amount of existing water consumption, and not destroying the surface structure", forming a Gobi ecological agriculture demonstration area characterized by "drought", actively exploring the pilot of facility horticulture digitalization, and leading the transformation of the facility horticulture industry in Gansu Province from labor-intensive to digital and intelligent.
Demonstration leads the 100 billion industry
In December 2017, the first phase of Zhangye Haisheng Modern Intelligent Greenhouse Industrialization Cultivation Project began construction. Lasting 2 years, the 200,000-square-meter modern intelligent greenhouse with an investment of 520 million yuan and an area of 500 acres was put into operation, which is the largest single scale in China, and the planting technology and energy conservation and environmental protection concentration are first-class modern intelligent greenhouses.
In this solar greenhouse, Zhangye Haisheng introduced the world's most advanced modern agricultural technology, and at the same time carried out localization improvements, relying on high-tech means such as accurate water and fertilizer circulation system, intelligent temperature raising management system, Internet of Things central control system, etc., to automatically control the whole process of water, temperature, humidity, light, fertilizer and so on. Each crop is cultivated with organic matter nutrient bowls to avoid passing through the soil to infect bacteria. The ecological epidemic prevention system of the greenhouse adopts an organic method, in addition to sulfur deworming lamps, bumblebees have been introduced from Europe for pollination, ladybirds are released for pest control, no pesticides are used throughout the process, and the water saving can reach more than 90%, becoming a leading digital facility horticultural project in China.
"There is a small tube under each plant pot to connect the big pipe, the water and fertilizer in the big pipe are supplied uniformly according to the scientific ratio, the leakage part of the water and fertilizer liquid flows into the groove, and after 27 layers of filtration and recirculation, it is applied to the water and fertilizer pipe, all of which is uniformly monitored and operated by the intelligent system of the central control room, ensuring the environmental protection and nutritional balance of the plant production environment." The greenhouse staff introduced. Greenhouses create the optimal growing environment for crops, saving a lot of labor and time.
This year, the project has become a modern Silk Road cold and drought agriculture and "Belt and Road" international cooperation demonstration project, with an annual output of 6500 tons of string tomatoes, bell peppers and milk melons, and high-quality string tomatoes and peppers are mainly sold to developed areas along the eastern coast, with an output value of 260 million yuan. Compared with the output value of traditional agriculture of thousands of yuan per mu, the advantages of modern high-tech agriculture can be seen.
Gao Liang, chairman of Haisheng Group, said that accelerating the construction of a modern Silk Road cold and dry agriculture industrial park led by the Zhangye Haisheng Modern Intelligent Greenhouse Industrial Cultivation Ecological Demonstration Project is an important practice to promote the transformation and upgrading of modern agriculture and the rapid development of modern Silk Road cold and dry agriculture and Gobi ecological agriculture.
Increase employment leads to prosperity
Enterprises have benefits, and the people have benefits. The settlement and development of Zhangye Haisheng in Minle County has also brought tangible economic benefits to the local people.
Industry drives employment, and employment promotes industry. Zhangye Haisheng carried out order-based free skills training, through theoretical teaching, on-site learning, field operation and other training, accurately grasp job skills, effectively improve work efficiency, fully absorb the poverty alleviation family labor force and rural surplus labor force, let the masses find employment nearby, realize the transformation from ordinary farmers to new professional farmers, and the road to prosperity is getting wider and wider.
In 2019, The first phase of Zhangye Haisheng Greenhouse has absorbed more than 500 nearby residents, all of whom are farmers relocated from the mountainous areas through the relocation of poverty alleviation and ecological livability in the county. Coming to Haisheng Company can not only learn planting techniques, but also earn about 4500 yuan per month. While driving farmers to increase their income, it has also changed the way of life of the relocated farmers, and also has a great demonstration and driving effect on the development of modern agriculture in the county.
Image credit | Zhangye Haisheng Modern Agriculture Co., Ltd
Reporter | Lin Xiaolan
Edit | Zhao Qixu