The lush landscapes of Chinese rice fields can change in a short time. With food security elevated to “national priority number one” status for Xi Jinping’s government and amid the fight against desertification, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has achieved a momentous achievement: growing rice in the desert. And he did this with astonishing results, allowing him to reduce the grain growth cycle by almost half and harvest in just two months at much lower costs than in Europe.

At CAAS they are also investigating how to improve the production of soybeans, corn, alfalfa, cotton or rapeseed in the desert, among other crops, with the help of greenhouses.

rice fields in the desert. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about China, Vietnam or the Albufera of Valencia. When rice cultivation is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is large green, lush, moist rice fields. They took a very important step to change this image in China.

A team of researchers from the Institute of Urban Agriculture (IUA), an affiliate of CAAS, recently harvested rice grown in the middle of the desert. More precisely, the first batch of grain was obtained from the arid lands of the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region in the northwest of the country.

The magic of greenhouses. The harvest was achieved with the help of greenhouses spread over 1,000 acres (about 4,000 hectares) in Hotan in southern Xinjiang. A vertical farming facility has been set up there to replace traditional grain crops arranged on terraces, according to the official Xinhua news agency. “Rice is grown in three-layer structures with precise environmental control in desert greenhouses instead of traditional methods,” says IUA chief scientist Tang Qichang.

Crop in record time. The experiment is significant not only because of what it implies in terms of agricultural use of otherwise barren land or the possibility of expanding rice crops both year-round and across the country, according to values ​​claimed by the official Chinese press. . The reason the IUA’s work has sparked so much interest is that greenhouse crops promise surprising productivity. Both in terms of time and cost.

Thanks to layering methods and “environmental control,” they managed to reduce the growth cycle “almost in half” and harvest rice in “just two months,” Yang says. Global Times He notes that it takes 75 days from planting stage to harvesting the grains, and that the technology used by the Chinese team reduces the growth cycle by approximately 40% compared to crops in conventional fields. He explained that the process takes 120 to 150 days in major rice-producing regions in the south or northeast of the country. SCMP.

Obstacle or opportunity?. Wang Sen, another IUA expert and part of the team, explained to the Chinese newspaper, “It took 15 days to cultivate the seedlings. In February, we planted them in soilless culture tanks. The entire production cycle takes 60 days.” In the Xinjiang test. They chose vertical growing technology in Hotan greenhouses, with LED lighting and a system that controls light, temperature, water and fertilizer density.

However, despite the harsh conditions of the Hotan Desert, IUA assures that its climate is more of an opportunity than a hindrance, thanks to sunny hours and pronounced thermal differences between day and night.

“Taking advantage of the advantages of the desert climate such as light and heat sources, the potential of protected agriculture becomes increasingly promising, paving the way for sustainable food production in Xinjiang,” researcher Shi Dawei told Xinhua. IUA. Another of the keys pointed out by the Chinese institute is the use of “energy-efficient technologies” that allow them to “significantly” reduce operating costs.

Little time… Little money? “Currently, the construction cost of energy-efficient desert greenhouses is 350 yuan, or about $48.2 per square meter, about one-third of Dutch greenhouses,” says Yang. “Meanwhile, operating costs are about 25% of Dutch greenhouses.” . The expert believes that costs, including operating costs, can be further reduced with the help of renewable energy, automation and artificial intelligence. “Greenhouses will be very competitive internationally.”

Beyond rice. Experts not only worked on ways to accelerate and increase the productivity of rice fields. CAAS also investigated ways to improve soybean, corn, wheat or cotton crops in greenhouses. Their efforts come in a very specific context and with two major challenges on the horizon.

The first is the desire of Chinese officials to guarantee the country’s food security; This is a goal they have elevated to the “highest national priority” category, for which they are seeking to grow crops on currently arid or unused land. The second is the country’s desertification problem, which has led the government to take measures to halt the advance of dunes and sandstorms.

Image | Sua Truong (Unsplash)

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