Green vegetables make their way to the dining tables of countless households

Vegetable research expert Chen Riyuan:

Chen Riyuan, professor and doctoral supervisor at South China Agricultural University, as an agronomy expert who has long cultivated vegetable fields, operates numerous vegetable experimental sites and technology promotion bases in Dongguan, Foshan and even Guangxi, Yunnan, Ningxia and more regions. Over the years, he and a group of agronomy experts have actively mobilized enterprises or farmers to form vegetable cooperatives and promoted the non-toxic planting system they recommend. To date, about tens of thousands of farmers have formed cooperatives under the leadership of these agronomy experts, and the vegetables they produce have made their way to the dining tables of countless households.

Text and photos: Guangzhou Daily reporter Zhang Yingwu

Trained in the vegetable fields

A pair of “piercing eyes”

After a heavy meal of fish and meat, a plate of delicious, brightly colored “stir-fried seasonal greens” is both nutritious and healthy. Green vegetables are almost a must-have dish on people's tables at every meal. Chen Riyuan, now over 50 years old, is a senior agronomy expert. For decades, his research subjects have been the various vegetables in the fields.

“Vegetable production has seasonal and climatic issues, but through modern cultivation techniques, we can eat all kinds of vegetables all year round.” In Chen Riyuan's vegetable experimental greenhouse, rows of tender green seedlings look particularly dazzling. Chen Riyuan is holding a small seedling grown through soilless cultivation, carefully observing its growth. He told the reporter that greenhouse vegetable cultivation technology is already very mature. It can make up for the seasonal shortage of vegetables and meet people's diverse demand for vegetables. Common winter seasonal vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, eggplant and rapeseed greens can now all be eaten at any time.

Having cultivated in vegetable planting experimental greenhouses for nearly 30 years, Chen Riyuan is thoroughly familiar with all kinds of vegetable and melon varieties, and has also developed a pair of “piercing eyes”. He can judge from their appearance whether the greens are growing healthily and what common diseases they have contracted.

Vegetable cultivation and protected horticulture are Chen Riyuan's two major research fields, which have a direct impact on vegetable quality, yield and production safety. In the 1980s, Chen Riyuan noticed the limitations of traditional vegetable cultivation methods. At that time, the common planting method among vegetable farmers was: spray pesticides whenever there were pests or diseases, and frantically apply chemical fertilizers whenever growth was poor. Because of excessive reliance on pesticides and chemical fertilizers, the farmers' sweat not only failed to improve vegetable quality and yield, but also easily led to problems such as excessive pesticide residues in vegetables and harm to the planting soil. This prompted Chen Riyuan to resolve to use his professional knowledge in horticulture (vegetables) to provide more technical support for farmers growing vegetables, so that more people could eat safe, green and healthy vegetables.

Ningxia farm grows top-grade Guangdong choy sum

Born into a rural family, Chen Riyuan perhaps never imagined that he would be bound for most of his life to agricultural planting. At the time, he had wanted to test into a popular science or engineering major, but later, due to an abnormal performance in the college entrance examination, he was reassigned to the relatively less popular vegetable science major at South China Agricultural University.

Chen Riyuan felt disappointed about this for a while at the time: “After working so hard to get into university from the countryside, I never expected I would still be dealing with crops.” However, Chen Riyuan was quickly attracted by the rich and colorful varieties and interesting characteristics of the “vegetable kingdom”. He experimented with cultivating different kinds of vegetables all year round, often tinkering in the laboratory for a whole day at a time. For decades, day after day, Chen Riyuan persisted in researching vegetable fields for 30 years and became more and more fascinated. Chen Riyuan told the reporter, “Although I chose this line of work by coincidence, I have always felt very fortunate.”

In recent years, Chen Riyuan has led his research team in promoting the application of vegetable cultivation techniques and horticultural facilities. In order to allow vegetables with strong local characteristics to have better quality, they carried out cross-regional planting experiments for many years. In the 1990s, Chen Riyuan traveled all over Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Ningxia, Guangxi and other places to investigate vegetable planting environments and provide technical guidance to planting farmers, achieving many remarkable results. For example, they used the natural environment of Ningxia farms, such as large temperature differences and abundant sunlight, to cultivate Guangdong varieties of choy sum. The Ningxia choy sum grown had bright color and especially delicious taste, becoming a top-choice ingredient for Cantonese cuisine.

Compared with vegetables on the market, the fresh vegetables from the vegetable bases guided by Chen Riyuan's research team have three major advantages: safety, freshness and high quality. At present, Chen Riyuan operates numerous experimental sites and technology promotion bases in many regions. He actively contacts large agricultural enterprises, or mobilizes farmers to form vegetable cooperatives, promoting the non-toxic planting system they recommend. To date, about tens of thousands of farmers have formed production cooperatives under the leadership of these agronomy experts, and the green vegetables produced have made their way to the dining tables of countless households.