Weifang Qingzhou: Drawing a New Volume of Rural Revitalization with the Pen of Modern Agriculture

On April 29th, at around 7 am, the Jiateng Agricultural Demonstration Park located in Wangyang Village, Tanfang Town, Qingzhou City, Weifang became lively. Workers in the greenhouse were working hard, and boxes of packaged watermelons in front of the warehouse were gradually transported to trucks. This car of watermelon has a total of over 20 tons and is supplied to the Beijing Xinfadi Wholesale Market. “Zhao Lijian, the person in charge of the park, introduced that their 2K watermelon has crispy and sweet flesh, thin skin, and good fruit shape, which is very popular in the market. When it first went on sale in mid March, a box of two seeds could sell for 128 yuan.

In 2018, due to promising agricultural development prospects, Qingzhou Jiateng Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. began developing agricultural planting. Wangyang Village was selected by Jiateng Agriculture due to its advantageous geographical location and convenient transportation. The company has successively transferred more than 460 acres of land from villagers and built and improved infrastructure. A high standard and modern agricultural demonstration park has emerged at this time.

In the watermelon greenhouse, a high hanging electronic screen displays the temperature and humidity of the soil and air. The proportionally mixed water and fertilizer nourish the vines through drip irrigation, and the camera records the growth status of the watermelon in real-time. It is reported that this is the “blockchain+vegetables” project just piloted in the park, equipped with a greenhouse environment monitoring system, video monitoring system, and a water fertilizer integrated machine. It can complete the data uploading of fruit and vegetable production, processing, transportation, and other aspects. By scanning the QR code on the watermelon, one can understand the entire growth process of seed loading, pollination, picking, and other aspects, achieving information traceability “one code sharing”.

In addition to “smart management”, Jiateng Agriculture targets market “top quality” and continuously optimizes watermelon varieties through cooperation with the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry’s Watermelon Research Center. It adopts physical pest control and organic planting, greatly improving the quality of watermelon and capturing the hearts of large and medium-sized supermarkets and fruit wholesale markets in many parts of the country. Through selection, the watermelons we are currently planting are all 2K varieties from Beijing and the United States, which are continuously supplied from March to July, mainly targeting mid to high-end platforms and the market. The daily average sales volume is 20-30 tons, and during peak periods, it can reach over 100 tons, “Zhao Lijian said.

In the melon selection greenhouse, the green and oily sweet melons have entered the young fruit growth period, and they can mature and be picked in another month. This is an experimental field with 56 melon varieties planted inside. Technicians will regularly observe the growth and select the best variety when it matures, “said Zhao Lijian. Due to their excellent quality, their watermelon seeds have been sold throughout the country and exported to countries such as Laos and Myanmar.

After the watermelon picking is completed, the park will enter the chili planting period after land restoration. We produce over 13 million tons of chili peppers annually, and we have the largest chili peppers trading market in the country nearby, with surrounding farmers coming here to sell. “Zhao Lijian introduced that due to the large scale and good quality of chili peppers cultivation, they are actively applying for chili peppers industry bases and building chili peppers brands.