Chifeng, Inner Mongolia develops facility agriculture and sells high-quality vegetables to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou

Xinhua News Agency, Hohhot, November 20 Topic: Chifeng, Inner Mongolia develops facility agriculture and sells high-quality vegetables to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou

Xinhua News Agency reporters Enhao and Wang Jing

In the early morning of winter, it was freezing cold in Ningcheng County, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, but the greenhouses in the 10,000-acre tomato park were warm and warm, and people were busy shuttling among the knee-high tomato seedlings. “We grow overwintering tomatoes, which can be picked on New Year’s Day. Now the transportation is very convenient. If you pick them on the first day, they can be put on the shelves of the Beijing market the next day.” Yu Xinghai, a grower, said.

The picture shows the 10,000-acre tomato park located in Ningcheng County, Chifeng City. (Photo by Qi Xuetao from Xinhua News Agency)

Yu Xinghai has been engaged in greenhouse cultivation for more than 20 years and is one of the first local farmers to taste the benefits of facility agriculture. Tomatoes grown in Ningcheng County are regular in shape, good in color, and resistant to storage and transportation. They are very popular in supermarkets and large wholesale markets in Beijing. “With two crops of tomatoes in winter and summer, the annual net income can be 120,000 yuan.”

In order to allow more farmers to get on the “express train to get rich”, Ningcheng County has vigorously developed facility agriculture based on the characteristics of the natural environment of the plateau and cold areas. It has solved the problem of development funds through financial subsidies, project investment, bank loans, farmer financing and other measures, and has continuously increased Investment in facility agriculture. Today, the area of facility agriculture here reaches 38,000 acres, with an annual output of 100,000 tons of tomatoes, an output value of 500 million yuan, and an average household income of about 100,000 yuan.

The expansion and strengthening of facility agriculture in Ningcheng County is the epitome of the steady development of facility agriculture in Chifeng City.

The picture shows Ningcheng tomatoes being prepared to be sent to the Beijing and Shanghai markets. (Photo by Qi Xuetao from Xinhua News Agency)

Chifeng City is located in a high-latitude arid and semi-arid zone, with abundant sunshine, large temperature differences between day and night, and excellent quality of various crops. It has unique conditions for the development of facility agriculture. At the same time, Chifeng is a transportation hub connecting North China, Northeast China, and east and west Inner Mongolia. It is only more than 300 kilometers away from downtown Beijing. The superior transportation location advantage allows high-quality vegetables to be put on tables everywhere in a timely manner.

Based on its location advantages and natural endowments, Chifeng City has steadily expanded the production area of facility agriculture in recent years, promoted intelligent, mechanized, and water-saving construction, and promoted the scale expansion and transformation and upgrading of facility agriculture in accordance with local conditions. At present, there are 1,215 large-scale facility agricultural parks in the city, including 9 parks with an area of over 10,000 acres, 2 facilities agriculture clusters with an area of over 10,000 acres, and 245 parks with an area of over 1,000 acres. As of the end of 2022, the output value of Chifeng City’s facility agriculture has reached 14.472 billion yuan. Facility agriculture has achieved year-round production and is on the market in four seasons. Both area and output account for more than 50% of Inner Mongolia.

The picture shows growers in Ningcheng County, Chifeng City picking peppers in greenhouses. (Photo by Wang Zhongwen from Xinhua News Agency)

“In order to enhance the core competitiveness of facility agricultural products, Chifeng City has vigorously promoted green and efficient standardized production technology in recent years, guided the development of facility agriculture in the direction of standardization, industrialization, and intelligence, and achieved value-added and efficiency-enhancing throughout the industry chain.” Chifeng Municipal Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau Chai Guibin, chief of the planting industry department, said that Chifeng City already has 123 green, organic, and geographical indication agricultural product certification companies, with 319 certified products and a certified area of more than 1 million acres.

In order to make green and high-quality vegetables widely sold and sold at good prices, all banners, counties and districts in the city have led vegetable suppliers, planting cooperatives, etc. to other places in recent years to “organize groups to enter the market.” Chifeng City has established sales outlets in large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and at ports such as Manzhouli and Erenhot. It has also expanded its sales network through “Internet +” and introduced well-known e-commerce enterprise marketing platforms into villages and households to develop E-commerce live streaming allows high-quality agricultural products to embrace the big market.

In addition, Chifeng City has firmly seized the opportunity of cooperation between Beijing and Mongolia, and has organized relevant departments to go to Beijing Beicai Group and Xinfadi Market for on-site inspections and docking on many occasions, promoting the construction of a Beijing fixed supply and guaranteed supply base in Chifeng City, Directly-operated stores in Chifeng City, etc., to expand the influence of Chifeng Vegetables in Beijing.

“Today, Chifeng City has become an important supply base for off-season vegetables in the Beijing-Tianjin-Shanghai region, and has also established strategic cooperative relationships with Shanghai Jiangqiao Market, Beijing Agricultural Products Circulation Association, etc.” Chai Guibin said that in the past three years, Chifeng City’s facility vegetables The average annual output is about 5 million tons, and the vegetables supplied to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Yangtze River Delta regions account for more than 60% of the city’s total output every year. “At the same time, Chifeng City is also the first ‘vegetable basket’ production base for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in Inner Mongolia. About 250,000 tons of tomatoes, peppers and other storage-resistant vegetables are supplied to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area through land transportation every year.”

“In the next step, we will work hard to modernize facility agriculture, further deepen digital empowerment, and vigorously promote the intelligence of facilities, equipment, and agricultural decision-making.” Zhang Shenghe, director of the Chifeng Municipal Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, said that through transformation and upgrading, the city’s facility agriculture comprehensive The production capacity can reach 5.84 million tons, and the total output value will reach more than 24 billion yuan. (Reporters Enhao and Wang Jing)