South China Sea island beach grows vegetables for first time

Vegetables have recently been successfully harvested in the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea for the first time by the Chinese navy, who will later spread the technology in order to better support the navy officers and civilians living on the islands.

(Photo/mod.gov.cn)

Vegetables, including pakchoi cabbage, baby Chinese cabbage and lettuce, were harvested on a "sand to earth" experimental field on Yongxing Island in Sansha city, south China's Hainan province in late May.

The high temperatures, high humidity and high salt content make farming extremely difficult on the South China Sea islands. Since the 1970s, the navy officers and civilians stationed on the islands have needed green-leaf vegetables to be shipped to them.

"We have successfully harvested seven kinds of vegetables. This is a breakthrough! " said Song Zhile, a sergeant on the island.

(Photo/mod.gov.cn)

"Seeds planted in a 0.5-mu (about 334 square meters) field grew into more than 1,500 jin (about 750 kg) of harvest, which is a considerable output,” Song Zhile said excitedly, adding that as there is plenty of sunshine in the Xisha Islands, the seeds sown in early April could mature in just over a month. After a reasonable amount of maintenance, the planting is expected to result in a bumper harvest in four seasons.

This technology is easy to operate, low-cost, and does not have high requirements on the site and natural environment, according to associate professor Zhao Zhaohua, a researcher, adding that not only does it solve the problem of growing vegetables in the Xisha Islands, but it can also be used for bringing greenery to a large part of the islands.