Chinese scientists are harnessing advanced greenhouse technologies to grow rice in infertile land. BEIJING: Amid the sprawling desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Chinese scientists are harnessing advanced greenhouse technologies to unleash the agricultural potential of the otherwise infertile land. Within the greenhouses that stretch ten thousand acres in Hotan, southern Xinjiang, scientists from the Institute of Urban Agriculture (IUA) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences have recently harvested the first batch of rice grown in the desert.
“The rice is cultivated on three-layer frames along with precise environment control in desert greenhouses, rather than conventional methods, which nearly halves the growth cycle, harvesting in just two months,” said Yang Qichang, the chief scientist of IUA. According to Yang, this achievement was built upon the earlier successes in the plant factory in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, where his team halved the growth period for the first time through speed breeding technology in 2021. In Yang’s view, the harsh climate in the Hotan desert provides an opportunity rather than a hindrance.
This region’s unique geographical features, including long hours of sunshine and a large difference in temperature between day and night, provide an ideal condition for crop cultivation. Researchers have also accelerated plant growth by applying dynamic LED lighting recipes, specific nutrient sol.
