In Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, the world’s highest vegetable farm, 20 stories high, has been launched.
It is planned that lettuce and mushrooms will be grown there.
In general, it is possible to produce a wide range of almost any vegetables in this format.
Similar buildings already exist in a number of countries, including Japan, Singapore, and the USA.
Their construction is a response to the problems associated with growing crops in the traditional way: in some areas this is difficult to do due to the arid climate or infertile soil.
In addition, growing directly in cities reduces logistics costs and provides city residents with fresh crops directly from the farm.
China plans to further develop this format of agriculture; experts consider this an important step to achieve the country’s food security, which this summer was declared by the head of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping as one of the priority goals for the country.
High technologies allow you to get a harvest at minimal cost
The head of China this year pointed out several problems characteristic of the Chinese agro-industrial complex.
These include the abandonment of agricultural land, soil depletion and erosion, and overexploitation of groundwater.
High-rise farms are controlled by artificial intelligence, thanks to which it is possible to solve a number of issues:
— Minimize the amount of water needed for irrigation.
Since cultivation occurs indoors, moisture remains in the air for a long time and does not evaporate immediately after watering.
— Accelerate harvesting thanks to optimal lighting, while energy-saving technologies are actively used.
— In order to get the maximum yield from each square meter, the best varieties of plants, specially bred for this purpose, are used.
Scientists claim that products collected on such farms will be in no way inferior to analogues produced using traditional methods.
The fact is that vertical farms imitate to the maximum extent all the conditions of the natural environment and do not involve the introduction of any special substances that could change the properties of the product and be potentially harmful to humans.
The PRC plans to continue to build such structures in various regions of the country.
“Through various forms of technological upgrading and construction of facilities, many lands that were previously unsuitable for agricultural production can now be used,” Xi Jinping said.
