Snowflakes are flying outside the greenhouse, and the greenhouse is full of greenery. Winter melons that are as thick as a bowl and nearly half a meter long are densely packed. "The output of one greenhouse is about 120,000 jin. The wholesale price is now 1.3 yuan per jin. It is not a problem to sell 300,000 yuan of winter melons in two greenhouses." Speaking of the harvest, the owner of the greenhouse, An Hai, is very happy.

This is Wangjiadun Village, Nijiaying Town, Linze County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province. Since March last year, An Hai has built 11 steel-framed greenhouses, each covering nearly 6 mu; in August this year, he planted winter melons in two greenhouses and is now selling them in batches.

Just over a year ago, this land was still a desert, and the cultivated land area in Zhangye accounted for less than 10% of the total land area. "We need cultivated land from the Gobi, water from conservation, and production from technology." Since 2017, Zhangye has developed a total of 117,600 mu of Gobi agriculture, with a total output value of 2.5 billion yuan, which has increased the income of 110,000 people. The Gobi Desert, once a wasteland where "the wind blew away the stones and no grass grew on the ground", is now filled with the fragrance of fruits and vegetables.

Anhai's steel frame greenhouse is 155 meters long and 24 meters wide, covering an area equivalent to the size of 9 standard basketball courts. Once you enter the greenhouse, there is a water and fertilizer integrated pool on the left. After the water and fertilizer are mixed here, they are directly delivered to the roots of the winter melon seedlings through drip irrigation pipes. "The water and fertilizer formula is set under the guidance of experts, and the irrigation frequency, duration, temperature and humidity in the greenhouse are automatically controlled by the system." An Hai told reporters.

In the Minle County Ecological Industrial Park, Zhangye Haisheng Modern Agriculture Co., Ltd. has a modern intelligent glass greenhouse with an area of 200,000 square meters, which is more automated. "The entire greenhouse is very advanced, from building materials, construction standards to installed technology." An Kangping, the company's production technology manager, introduced that the temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide concentration are all automatically controlled by computers.

The number of bunches of tomatoes grown in the greenhouse is almost the same, and the size, color and taste of each tomato are very small.

What's the reason? An Kangping said that the irrigation and fertilization of each plant are uniformly controlled by a precise water and fertilizer circulation system, and sensors are installed in the upper, middle and lower parts of the greenhouse to ensure a consistent growth environment for the plants.

Hexi has been short of water since ancient times. Where does the water come from to develop Gobi agriculture?

"We promote the construction of high-standard farmland by leveling the fields, lining channels, and laying water-saving facilities for sprinkler and drip irrigation." Zhang Wenbin, director of the Municipal Economic Crop Technology Promotion Station, said that at least 1/3 of water can be saved after the transformation, and "the remaining water use indicators are used to increase the Gobi agricultural irrigation water."

In the greenhouse, there are grooves on both sides of the matrix frame to recycle water and fertilizer that are not absorbed by the plants. An Kangping introduced, "Generally, 70% to 80% can be absorbed, and the excess water and fertilizer can be recycled, filtered and processed for continued use."

At Gansu Shennong Rare Mushroom Industry Co., Ltd. in Ganzhou District, unlike the general mushroom sticks that are packaged in plastic film, food-grade plastic bottles are used here, which can be used repeatedly. "The discarded mushroom materials are currently sold as organic fertilizers at 90 yuan per ton. The next step is to develop them into feed," said Liu Li, the company's deputy general manager.

Zhang Wenbin introduced that compared with the central and eastern regions, Zhangye not only has advantages such as large temperature difference between day and night and good lighting conditions, but also has far fewer pests and diseases, and uses far less pesticides, reducing agricultural non-point source pollution from the source.

The construction started in May last year and was put into production in October. Shennong Rare Mushroom Industry has achieved an output value of 57 million yuan this year. "Now about 20 tons of mushrooms are produced every day, but the supply still exceeds the demand." Liu Li said that as of now, the company has received two "big gift packages" from Zhangye City: a subsidy of 3 million yuan for the construction of Gobi agricultural infrastructure and a subsidy of 5 million yuan for the actual production of mushroom bottles.

In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of social capital to invest in Gobi agriculture, the government has successively introduced a series of policies and measures. Since 2017, Zhangye has successively sought 215 million yuan in central and provincial funds, and adopted targeted subsidies, first-build-then-subsidize, and reward-in-lieu-of-subsidy methods to support enterprises in terms of land allocation, infrastructure support, seedling and fungus breeding, efficient water conservation, scientific and technological research and development, sales and circulation, and brand building.

"Thanks to the thoughtful service of the town cadres, the property rights certificate of more than 50 acres of land was quickly obtained, and I successfully mortgaged it to get a loan of 2 million yuan." An Hai said gratefully. Zhou Xinghai, a senior agronomist at the Agricultural and Rural Comprehensive Service Center of Nijiaying Town, also provided him with free consulting services such as seedling cultivation, field management, and pest control. "Master Zhou comes at least twice a week to teach me to reduce the planting density, and the yield of winter melon has increased a lot."

In the Haisheng greenhouse, a row of tomatoes is 120 meters long, and Bai Leshan drives a lift truck to drop vines. Because of his inconvenience in his legs and feet, Bai Leshan rarely went out to work before, and his life was tight. "The work intensity here is not high. I am a vine feller and my wife is a foreman. Our combined monthly salary is more than 9,000 yuan!"

Haisheng is still "rising". The company's Phase II and Phase III projects are under intensive construction, covering a total area of 2,000 mu and with an investment of 2.68 billion yuan. After they are put into production in August next year, they will drive more than 5,000 people to find jobs nearby, and increase the average household income by more than 45,000 yuan.

People's Daily (Page 01, December 20, 2020)

Plastic Industry Video