Day 3- Xiaotangshan Veggie/Fruit Production

The tour bus promptly picked us up at 8a. After an hour long ride we arrived at Beijing Agriculture Research Station. We were greeted by Dr. Lee, the head of the Dept. of Horticulture and cut-flowers. At the Research Station they work with the government using international and national technologies to produce better products. The Chinese Government is researching various ways to improve the flower and vegetable industry. They’re property was roughly 1.6 acres. First we visited there greenhouse. One plant that I was quite familiar with was anthuriums. They had roughly 7 different cultivars. One thing that I found to be different from Hawaii production was how they were shipped. Each flower was wrapped in a plastic bag and laid flat on each other. Visiting Green Point Nurseries on the Big Island they shipped their anthuriums unwrapped and laid them on a bed of shredded newspaper. Box sizes were similar but Hawaii has a larger variety of anthuriums. Maybe one day these growers and UH Manoa could collaborate with growers in China. Anthuriums are quite popular in China and cost is $.50 wholesale. Another greenhouse was filled with banana trees. We got to taste them and they were just like apple bananas!

We then visited their high hoop production system where they grow all sorts of vegetables. The one that we visited was growing organic beans. They also grew green onions as part of an IPM Management technique. The hoop house had a brick entrance and at one end while side was normal. Because temperatures drop so rapidly they need to have some sort of insulation to protect the crops.

Photos from left to right- strawberries on high table for easy picking, movable greenhouse benches, anthurium flower production, outdoor protected agriculture