The output value scale is 20 million yuan, with a daily production capacity of 30000 fresh cut flowers. Shanghai Chongming International Chrysanthemum Ecological Park has put into operation as an opportunity | Flowers | Cut Flowers
Conveyor belts and production lines are commonly found in factory workshops that produce furniture, daily necessities, and electronic products, and are usually insulated from agricultural products, especially delicate flowers. However, in an agricultural park located along the town of Chongming Port, the production of fresh cut flowers also uses assembly lines——
Through the automatic seedling cutting system, the park can achieve automatic planting of flower seedlings in substrate blocks; After more than two months of growth, the harvested fresh cut flowers are directly transported from the smart glass greenhouse to the flower bundling workshop via a conveyor belt. The workers simply sort and bag them, and the entire process only takes one or two minutes. "We have introduced greenhouse technology and intelligent production equipment from the Netherlands, which can produce 30000 fresh cut flowers per day," said Yao Jianjun, the park manager.
Recently, the project named Shanghai Chongming International Chrysanthemum Ecological Park was successfully completed and passed the acceptance inspection, and has now been put into operation. The relevant person in charge of Gangyan Town told reporters that with the opportunity of "Post Flower Expo", Gangyan Town continuously optimizes the layout of the flower industry and improves the industrial level of "Shanghai Flower Port" through technological strength.
Chrysanthemums travel through the "tunnel" to the bundling workshop
Entering the Chongming International Chrysanthemum Ecological Park in Shanghai, bursts of chrysanthemum fragrance waft over. In August, the scorching sun is like fire. Originally, it was not the time when chrysanthemums appeared in the fields. Where did the fragrance come from?
"This project has an investment of 100 million yuan and covers an area of 213 acres, including 80 acres of intelligent glass greenhouses that can produce chrysanthemums throughout the year," said Yao Jianjun, the general manager of Shanghai Honghua Horticulture Co., Ltd., the project operator, as he led the reporter towards the glass greenhouse. In the greenhouse, a machine is constantly picking up the vibrating chrysanthemum seedlings on the conveyor belt. After picking them up, they are placed in the cutting equipment on the other side. After arranging a row of 8 chrysanthemum seedlings, the equipment then inserts these seedlings into the substrate block below. The reporter noticed that cutting a row of chrysanthemum seedlings only takes about ten seconds.
"The matrix block is also pre pressed by automated mechanical equipment. The robot automatically recognizes and grasps the cuttings to complete seedling cutting, achieving 'machine replacement', saving labor, and significantly improving production efficiency." Yao Jianjun told reporters.
Going further inside, there is a unique cave in the greenhouse, with many small chrysanthemums in various colors such as pink, yellow, white, and purple growing happily. Workers are harvesting chrysanthemums. Unlike the regular harvesting process, they did not bundle the harvested multiple small chrysanthemums onto a cart and then transport them to the bundling workshop outside the greenhouse. Instead, they casually placed the harvested several chrysanthemums on a nearby conveyor belt.
In order to fully utilize and save the space of the glass greenhouse, this conveyor belt even passes through a long "tunnel", directly sending flower branches out of the greenhouse through the underground. At the other end of the assembly line, workers stand by the conveyor belt, waiting for the machine to preliminarily sort and sort the flower branches, and then quickly bag the bouquet.
"Duotou Xiaoju is currently the main variety planted in the park, and these flower bouquets will be sent to wholesalers as soon as possible. According to the designed production capacity of this assembly line, the park can produce 30000 fresh cut flowers per day." Yao Jianjun told reporters that these freshly picked chrysanthemum flower buds have not fully unfolded, and will gradually bloom during wholesale, transportation, and sales. The time from leaving the glass greenhouse to the final vase viewing period can reach about a month. At present, there are 450000 chrysanthemum plants and 240000 chrysanthemum seedlings cultivated in the greenhouse of the park, including more than 300 varieties.
Technology empowers production capacity to increase by four to five times
Established in 1991, Honghua Horticulture is an established flower enterprise in Shanghai, mainly engaged in the research and development of new varieties of chrysanthemums, production of fresh cut flowers, and application and exhibition of flowers. In 2017, the 10th China Flower Expo had just started the bidding process, and the relevant person in charge of Chongming District had already contacted Honghua Horticulture; The following year, Chongming launched 50000 acres of high-quality land for global investment, and Honghua Horticulture took a liking to this precious land located in Gangyan Town. Nowadays, a batch of chrysanthemums in the park can grow in only about 80 days. It is unbelievable that there are only about ten employees in such a modern flower industry park.
"The future agricultural production cannot rely on low cost and high energy consumption competition, but must rely on technology to lead agricultural development. In this park, relying on technology empowerment in various links, our production efficiency has increased by four to five times." Yao Jianjun said.
At the source, the chrysanthemum germplasm in the park is the result of agricultural research. The reporter learned that Honghua Horticulture has collected and preserved over 3000 chrysanthemum germplasm resources, and is one of the first batch of "National Chrysanthemum Germplasm Resource Libraries". It has cooperated with research institutes such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Agricultural University, and Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences. In addition, the Agriculture and Rural Committee of Chongming District has also taken advantage of the opportunity of the Flower Expo to introduce, research and develop, and screen a batch of flower germplasm resources, some of which are being industrialized and planted in the Chongming International Chrysanthemum Ecological Park in Shanghai. As a result, the growth cycle of multi head chrysanthemums in the park has been significantly shortened, with an annual rotation of about 4 to 5 crops, greatly improving land use efficiency.
During the production process, modern agricultural technologies such as all-weather light and temperature control systems, efficient integrated irrigation systems for water and fertilizer, and underground drainage systems introduced by the park have also made it possible for large-scale and factory production of fresh cut flowers. It is worth mentioning that the park has not fully adopted imported technology and equipment, and has also achieved domestic substitution in some fields.
For example, the automatic lifting network system used in the park has achieved localization substitution. "To grow vigorously, flowers need to be supported by a support net. This system must gradually improve according to the growth progress of the flowers, in order to achieve the best support effect. After a long period of improvement, our own automatic lifting net system has been applied in greenhouses in the park." Yao Jianjun said.
"Flower economy" reflects industrial upgrading
During the interview, Yao Jianjun sighed to the reporter that the popularity of the "flower economy" reflects the improvement of people's living standards. "In the past, flowers were light luxury items, and fresh cut flowers were often only used on a large scale at major ceremonies, exhibitions, and exhibitions. Now, flowers have become a daily commodity, and on many e-commerce platforms, 'fruits and flowers' are a parallel category. People used to buy flowers to please people, but now they buy flowers to please themselves. The transformation of the role of flowers has also driven the continuous growth of the market size. Nowadays, the park can produce up to 12 million fresh cut chrysanthemums annually, with a production value of about 20 million yuan.".
In addition to domestic sales, fresh cut flowers produced by Shanghai Chongming International Chrysanthemum Ecological Park are also exported to countries such as South Korea and Japan. Yao Jianjun calculated an account for the reporter: the cost of producing chrysanthemums in the park is about 1.5 yuan per branch. If exported to Japan by container transportation, one container can hold about 80000 branches. The wholesale price is about 2 yuan per branch, and the market price is about 4 yuan per branch. "Although the wholesale price is not high, a box of 80000 branches is equivalent to a container with a profit of about 40000 yuan. This large-scale sales method is particularly suitable for industrial parks like ours with large-scale and factory production."
The "flower economy" not only reflects people's prosperous lives, but also reflects the upgrading of Chongming's agricultural industry. Guo Zhihua, Deputy Mayor of Gangyan Town, told reporters that the Shanghai Chongming International Chrysanthemum Ecological Park is located within the Shanghai Hexing Rural Revitalization Industry Demonstration Park. The park opened in February this year with the aim of accelerating the development of rural real economy. And just three or four years ago, that area was still an inefficient asparagus greenhouse.
"Previously, it was the South Field of the Vegetable Company in Gangyan Town, mainly planted by external growers. Although the economic benefits were good, some growers exceeded the standard by using fertilizers and pesticides, resulting in a decrease in soil fertility and serious pollution of plant waste. The 'big water and big fertilizer' planting mode has a significant impact on the ecological environment. Guo Zhihua told reporters that with the help of the east wind of the Flower Expo, Gangyan Town has cleared its backward production capacity, dismantled a thousand acre asparagus greenhouse, planted fresh flowers, and introduced modern flower enterprises such as Honghua and Yuanyi to vigorously develop the 'flower economy'.".
At the end of 2020, the municipal government issued the "Action Plan for Promoting High Quality Agricultural Development in Shanghai", and Gangyan Town was included in the "Chongming High end Facility Agriculture Industry Zone", one of the 13 leading areas in the city. Taking this opportunity, Gangyan Town vigorously develops the flower industry and builds the "Shanghai Flower Port". Currently, related projects are steadily advancing. "We are building a flower industry axis along the Hewu Highway and will focus on building a number of intelligent and industrialized production bases in the future to promote the development of flower industry clusters," said the relevant person in charge of Gangyan Town.
