Barren reefs of Sansha develop modern agriculture and grow fruits and vegetables

Original title: Sansha introduces modern agricultural planting technology, fishermen open up private plots to grow fruits and vegetables, making the dining table richer

Barren reefs transform into a maritime "good Jiangnan"

Sansha melon and vegetable planting

San Nong Zhi Tong Che comprehensive report: In early summer, some reefs of Sansha are already full of vegetables and fragrant with melons and fruits.

Inside the vegetable greenhouses rising one after another, and in the private plots opened up in front of and behind fishermen's homes, a wide variety of melons and fruits hang heavy on the branches. Even the acerola recently introduced on Zhaoshu Island has already bloomed and is about to welcome its harvest.

As the development and construction of Sansha changes with each passing day, the demand of the soldiers and civilians on the islands for fresh vegetables, melons and fruits is growing. With the infrastructure on the reefs becoming increasingly complete, those once-barren reefs of Sansha where even seabirds would not land have gradually become a resource-rich maritime "good Jiangnan." The soldiers and civilians stationed in Sansha no longer have to rely solely on supply ships to eat fresh melons, fruits and vegetables.

Modern greenhouses are full of fruits and vegetables

Last December, Sansha City cooperated with units stationed on the island and hired agricultural experts from off the island to provide technical guidance for the vegetable greenhouses. Bags of fertilizer were transported to Yongxing Island, then mixed and stirred with coral ash and other materials on Yongxing Island to cultivate and improve organic soil, and the vegetable greenhouses rose from the ground.

The 4 vegetable greenhouses with a total area of nearly 10,000 sq m "each perform their own duties." Greenhouse No. 1 specializes in using soilless atomization technology to grow various melons, fruits and vegetables; in Greenhouse No. 2, fungi of different shapes are about to be harvested, and various sprouted beans are ready to be served on the dining table at any time; in the 2,500 sq m Greenhouse No. 3, cucumbers, facing-heaven peppers and tomatoes of different colors have already set fruit; Greenhouse No. 4 specializes in growing vegetables, and in the 1,800 sq m greenhouse, seasonal vegetables such as Shanghai bok choy, tomatoes and amaranth are growing vigorously; the land on both sides of the road outside the greenhouses is not idle either, and green papayas already hang heavy on the branches.

Despite problems such as insufficient soil capacity to store water and fertilizer and high salinity and alkalinity, a series of technical improvements by agricultural experts have fully leveraged the island's advantages of abundant sunlight and fast plant growth, turning these vegetable greenhouses into high-yield greenhouses. According to reports, the production cycle of vegetables here is shorter than on Hainan Island. In particular, the fast-growing amaranth takes only a short 10 days from sowing seeds to entering the plates of the soldiers and civilians on the island.

Staff introduced that one ridge of vegetables can yield 400 jin, and with more than 20 ridges in the vegetable greenhouses, cucumbers from just one mu of land can yield about 8,000 jin. This high yield can not only fully meet the daily supply for the Yongxing employee canteen and the stationed troops' canteen, but is also sent to the self-service supermarket on Yongxing Island for sale, meeting more people's demand for fruits and vegetables.

Fishermen open up their own "happy farms"

Different from the large-scale production on Yongxing Island, on nearby Zhaoshu Island, the "happy farms" that fishermen spontaneously opened up in front of their homes for growing fruits and vegetables have also become a unique local sight.

Li Linsai, a fisherman on Zhaoshu Island, is a die-hard fan of "happy farms." In front of his home, he enclosed a small vegetable garden of more than 50 sq m with fishing nets. In it are not only common peppers, radishes and muskmelons, but at the edge of the vegetable plot there is also a papaya tree more than one person tall already full of heavy fruit.

To grow melons, fruits and vegetables on a sea island, the first problem to solve is fresh water. "In the past, watering melons, fruits and vegetables was unimaginable, because even drinking water was very scarce," Li Linsai said. When he first came to the island 10 years ago, he tried to open up a small patch of wasteland and plant drought-tolerant peppers. Because fresh water was lacking, Li Linsai longed all day for rain from the heavens, but the heavens did not favor him. After several consecutive days of drought, all the newly sprouted pepper seedlings dried up and died. A few years ago, large-scale seawater desalination equipment was installed on Zhaoshu Island, and every household had running water, which finally made the dream of growing vegetables on the island a reality. "The soil on Zhaoshu Island, like that on most reefs in Sansha, is mostly coarse-grained sea sand soil, with relatively high soil salinity and alkalinity and poor water- and fertilizer-holding capacity. In addition, vegetables and fruit trees must withstand the test of high temperature and high salinity..." Standing in the pepper field in front of his home, Li Linsai introduced his island planting experience, just like an agricultural expert.

Honey and meat can both be supplied on the island

Yu Shiguang, a 65-year-old man living in Tunchang County, once lived on Yongxing Island for several years as a militiaman in the 1970s. When he came to the island again at the beginning of this year, he marveled at the changes in life on Yongxing Island: in the past, wanting to eat fresh vegetables on Yongxing Island was very difficult, and he once went for 2 consecutive months without eating green vegetables. At that time, many fishermen and militiamen stationed on the island often had peeling and festering hands and feet due to lack of vitamins. Now, when he came to Yongxing Island again, he felt that the diet was already no different from that in his hometown.

Not only that, nowadays on Yongxing Island there are also modern chicken farms and pig farms. The soldiers and civilians stationed on Yongxing Island can eat meat and poultry products produced on the island while staying there. Yongxing Island fisherman Huang Liangshan has even raised island bees on the island. Now the bees he keeps have reached more than 20 boxes, and millions of bees busily move about all day on flower-filled Yongxing Island. The honey can not only be provided to the soldiers and civilians stationed on the island, but has also become the first-choice product purchased by guests visiting Yongxing Island. On Zhaoshu Island, more than a thousand newly planted coconut trees are growing vigorously, the newly planted acerola has already bloomed and is about to bear its first batch of cherries, and fruit trees one after another connect into patches of dazzling green.

Next, Sansha City will also combine Yongxing Island's own characteristics, introduce advanced planting and grafting technology and soilless cultivation technology, improve the sprinkler irrigation system, and improve the island's soil quality, so as to upgrade the island's vegetable, melon and fruit planting technology, increase yield and variety, better guarantee the supply of vegetables, melons and fruits on Yongxing Island, and make the dishes on the dining tables of the soldiers and civilians stationed on the island even more varied. (This newspaper, Yongxing Island, June 13 dispatch, reporter Li Lei)