The Chinese horticultural industry might get ready to rumble as two major business magnates found their way into the greenhouse. Last week Jack Ma (Ma Yun), founder and CEO of Alibaba, and Sun Hongbin, CEO of Sunac, visited the Kaisheng Haofeng Facility. This is the largest greenhouse in the Shandong Province in the Lingcheng District, Dezhou City. They were joined by representatives of the Dezhou Financial Investment Group, Qingdao Haofeng Food Group, and Kaisheng Haofeng (Dezhou) Intelligent Agriculture. 

Technology in the greenhouse

With Alibaba Jack Ma has created one of the biggest technology multinationals in the world, specializing in e-commerce, retail, internet, and technology. Now he took a peek at the "high-quality" scientific and technological content behind a small tomato.

The committee members of the Dezhou Financial Investment Group and vice-CEO Yu Ruihua introduced the modern greenhouse, in what the control over temperature, light, water, carbon dioxide, and fertilizer is integrated via the automatic environmental-control system. The process, including seed selection, seedling raising, planting, pest control, irrigation, picking, packaging, etc., is designed based on the growth requirements of the tomato plants. Besides, standardized management is strictly implemented. The greenhouse uses an automatic screening line with the spectral system, the automatic weighting and screening can be carried out according to the color, weight, and defect degree of tomatoes, ensuring uniform product quality and uniform gram weight.

"The tomatoes planted in this way are not only high in value but also good in taste full of seeds, juice, and rich vitamins", the team explained. After that, the technical operation team reported in detail the variety selection, research, development, plant model construction, digital management, and standardization system of the smart greenhouse.

Second season

The smart greenhouse's second planting season has just finished. The intelligent farm is buzzing with energy and the plants flourish. Jack Ma paid close attention to the growing conditions of the tomato plants, including the coconut coir growth medium, drip irrigation, liquid fertilizer, and other innovative plantation technologies. The bumblebee pollination attracted particular attention. During the period when the tomato plants blossom, the farmers use bumblebees to pollinate the flowers. They do not add hormones, but improve fruit ratio naturally. The tomatoes are juicy and plump, and the flavor is excellent.

The inspection tour was followed by a conference where the technical operation team provided a detailed report on the development and selection of product varieties in the smart greenhouse, plantation installations, digital management, and standardized systems.

Jack Ma congratulated China on its achievements in the development of smart agriculture and said: At present, the modern agricultural industry, is similar to the Internet at the beginning of the 21st century, is undergoing tremendous changes, and there is still much room for future development. The development of agriculture should pay attention to the input of talents and technology. He hopes to discuss more development possibilities about agriculture with everyone and jointly promote the progress of farmers, industries, and the whole society.

19 Oct 2020