Jiangsu's assistance drives smart tomato farming in Xinjiang

A worker transports freshly harvested tomatoes inside a smart greenhouse at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Li Long)

Tomatoes are entering harvest season inside smart greenhouses at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The greenhouses sit in the Ili River Valley, at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

The park is a flagship project funded by Lianyungang, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, under China's paired-assistance program for Xinjiang. It is helping modernize local agriculture.

Inside the greenhouses, verdant vines wind along vertical racks, their branches laden with ripe fruit. Unlike traditional farming, the crop here is grown without soil, in a coconut coir substrate, using an integrated water and fertilizer system and smart temperature and humidity controls, with every stage of production traceable. These technologies allow production to overcome the constraints of season, climate and soil.

"This project received 103.5 million yuan ($15.33 million) in aid funding and covers 400 mu (26.67 hectares) of dual-layer, air-inflated, semi-enclosed greenhouses," said Yuan Wei, deputy general manager of Horgos Agricultural Science and Technology Development Group Co., Ltd.

The park now produces more than 7,000 tonnes of tomatoes a year, with an output value of over 90 million yuan.

Xu Jia, head of the Lianyungang assistance team's industry and employment office, said tomato yields at the park reach about 40 tonnes per mu, with an output value of 400,000 yuan per mu.

About 75 percent of the park's tomatoes are sold within Xinjiang, with the rest shipped to cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. In the future, the tomatoes will be exported to Central Asian countries through Horgos Port.

In recent years, the park has created stable jobs for residents of nearby villages and towns, with workers earning an average of 6,000 yuan a month.

Tomatoes hang from vines inside a smart greenhouse at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Li Long)

A worker harvests tomatoes inside a smart greenhouse at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Li Long)

Tomatoes are grown using soilless cultivation technology inside a smart greenhouse at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Li Long)

A worker transports freshly harvested tomatoes inside a smart greenhouse at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Li Long)

Workers sort freshly picked tomatoes at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Li Long)

A worker sorts and packs tomatoes into boxes at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Li Long)

Photo shows neatly arranged tomatoes at the Horgos Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Li Long)