Have you heard of hydrogen rich rice? This agricultural "black technology" has blossomed and borne fruit in Xiaokunshan Town, Songjiang
During the autumn harvest, the hydrogen rich rice in Xiaokunshan Town, Songjiang District is being harvested in a concentrated manner. The rice grains are crystal clear and full, with a transparent color. Compared with conventional rice, the yield, quality, and disease resistance of the rice are effectively improved.
What is hydrogen rich rice? By using hydrogen production equipment, hydrogen is injected into water to form hydrogen rich water, which is then used to irrigate rice. According to analysis and calculation, the yield of dry grains irrigated with hydrogen rich water increased by 6.9%, which is significant. In terms of rice yield, rice irrigated with hydrogen rich water has a higher rice yield, and the rice yield and yield screened by high-precision equipment have increased by 22.1% compared to rice irrigated with ordinary water.
In addition, the average plant height of rice irrigated with hydrogen rich water is smaller than that of rice in the control field, and the stem diameter is larger than that of rice in the control field, which is conducive to improving the lodging resistance performance of rice. In terms of rice quality and taste, the chalkiness rate of rice irrigated with hydrogen rich water is 30% lower than that of rice irrigated with ordinary water, and the content of amylose is reduced by 7.3%, improving the palatability of rice.
In the central area of 10000 acres of fertile land in Xiaokunshan, two hydrogen rich water generators with a processing capacity of 100 tons continuously flow into the surrounding experimental fields, making the rice seedlings that have been fully fed with hydrogen rich water appear more energetic in the sunlight.
"This year, the experimental area has been increased from 10 acres last year to 80 acres. Early rice has already undergone four rounds of hydrogen rich water irrigation during the early tillering, peak, booting, and heading stages." According to Lu Mingchang, the director of the Songjiang Rice Research Institute, an important participant in the experiment, it was found that hydrogen rich rice has characteristics such as early heading and stronger plants compared to more than 100 acres of surrounding control fields. Before and after harvest, monitoring of grain structure, disease resistance, aroma value, yield, and other aspects will also be carried out to comprehensively grasp the experimental results.
This project was launched in Xiaokunshan Town last year, jointly carried out by Songjiang District Rice Research Institute, Liquefied Air Investment Company, Xiaokunshan Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Tongchu Anxin Organic Farm. "In fact, hydrogen rich water can not only irrigate rice, but also fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, chicken hair vegetables, etc., all grow well." Lu Mingchang told reporters that hydrogen rich water is mainly used to help fruits and vegetables and rice delay cell aging. It was widely used in the medical field in the early years, and later France explored large-scale application in the agricultural field.
What are the bottlenecks faced in promoting hydrogen rich rice, fruits and vegetables on a large scale? Mainly due to cost pressure. The reporter saw on site that the equipment for producing nano hydrogen rich water weighs several tons, which is not only expensive but also inconvenient for transportation. Liquefied Air Investment Company has chosen to invest in the construction of a nano hydrogen rich water generation equipment station near the Xiaokunshan hydrogen rich rice planting base. Once scaled up, equipment transportation issues will be the first to hit. In addition, injecting enough hydrogen gas into one acre of land requires 40 yuan, plus equipment costs, which puts significant cost pressure.
"The project faces many difficulties and challenges, but in order to make Songjiang rice more distinctive and have higher added value, Xiaokunshan Town will continue to support and help enterprises overcome difficulties and explore a new path of rural revitalization and development through technology empowering agriculture." The relevant person in charge of Xiaokunshan Town stated that based on the good experimental results achieved in this year's trial field, it is expected to expand the planting area of hydrogen rich rice by 400 acres within 10000 acres of good farmland next year.