Day 9- Fuqingvfeng Agricultural Development Co, & SIG Biotechnology Company

Pepper is the main production at Fuqingvfeng Agricultural Development Co. This particular green house was built in 2011. It is roughly 2500 sq meters and is used for transplant production of the peppers. Pepper products are distributed to supermarkets in Fu Zhou and also other provinces such a Nanjing. Net profit per year is 20 million RMB or 3.5 million US. Size of the property is 4000 mu. One US 1 hectare= 15 mu. They employ 300 people. Grapes will be fruiting in a few months. They plant them in the walkway area since they participate in agro tourism and UPick. This is a standard system to produce peppers. Several hot pepper cultivars are from the Netherlands. Here they use raised beds, drip irrigation and fertigation. Soil amendments are not by using any chemicals. Instead the entire tunnel is sealed for 40 days. Air temperature reaches 60C. They then till the soil to reduce soil borne pathogens. One high tunnel can produce 20k lbs.

They also have a facility used to raise pigeons. Here they breed 16,000 pigeons. Pigeons are monogamous creatures. If one dies their partner will soon die after. Baby pigeons are fed by parents for one month before being on their own. Pigeons are breed to to be eaten and the manure is used to feed plants.

Built in 2001. SIG Biotechnology is an American owned micropropagation (tissue culture) Company in China. The owner is an American who was born in China but grew up in America. This was an impressive facility. I was looking forward to seeing how the facility would be setup. The clean rooms were very well lit and sterile. On average the workers can culture 1000-7000 plants depending upon variety. One cultivar they were particularly interested in is Dendrobium Officinalis. Medicinal uses from this plant include relieving stomach issues, staying young and youthful, and cancer remission care. There are 75 varieties of Dendrobium Officinalis but only 15 are for medicinal use. The useful part of this particular orchid species is the stem. To harvest, peel the leaves and dry the stem. Each cost roughly 3-4 yuan a piece. You can also drink the juice fresh when squeezed or use the juice to put directly unto the body. Dried stems can be cut and put into boiling water for a while and then the drink liquid. It can and also put in soup. At SIG they are they to put it into pill form. Cost for the dried product is 500grams for 500RMB.

Photos from left to right- Potted anthuriums, tissue culture production, pigeon breeding, pepper production