In the Jingdong plant Factory in Tongzhou, Beijing, vegetables grow in a comfortable environment created by computer automatic environment control technology. Relying on artificial LED light source, Internet of things technology, hydroponics cultivation and other technology, the plant can grow and pick all year round. Each year, 300 tons of green leafy vegetables can be produced to supply the market.

It is reported that at the initial stage of construction, the plant factory has gone through various industry surveys. They also went to Japan to investigate the Mitsubishi plant factory project. In 2018, Jingdong plant factory was officially completed and become the largest plant factory combining sunlight and artificial light in China.

Wu zhong sheng, who is in charge of Jingdong plant factory, introduced that through the manual intervention technology, the plant factory can keep the temperature, humidity and light in the greenhouse in the most suitable state for vegetable growth all the year round, completely free from the influence of outdoor seasons and air.

Different from the traditional soil tillage method, Jingdong plant factory adopts hydroponic cultivation. Hydroponic cultivation, also known as nutrient solution cultivation, is one of the ways of soilless cultivation. Its characteristic is that it does not use soil, but depends on nutrient solution in circulation. Nutrient solution not only provides water, but also provides various elements required for plant growth.

The plant factory also imports advanced intelligent equipment, nutrient solution detection instrument (EC/ PH value) and water purification equipment from Japan, combined with artificial intervention technology, NFT, capillary mixed cultivation technology and the effect of nutrient solution, which makes the quality of vegetables more safe and assured. It also adds various nutrients to the water according to different needs of plants.

The cultivation mode of full hydroponic culture plus special nutrient solution can make the nutrient solution temperature controllable, the vegetable root system can absorb oxygen well, and save more than 90% water than conventional planting. Moreover, the nutrient solution can be recycled, making the whole plant factory close to zero emission.

Thanks to the complete set of plant factory technology is adopted, there is no difference between low season and high season, and it is less affected by the natural environment. It can be sown, planted and harvested every day in a year, and production can be carried out constantly, which fully meets the market demand.

Take spinach as an example. The average production cycle of spinach cultivated in plant factories is about 19 crops a year, while spinach planted in ordinary fields does not exceed 4 crops a year, and spinach grown in ordinary greenhouses does not exceed 6 crops a year. The efficiency is threeorfour times higher. Moreover, its folic acid content is 80%, vitamin 32%, potassium 25% and phosphorus 37% higher than that of ordinary spinach.

In addition, the seed quality control, intelligent seedling raising, automatic and digital water fertilization, sunlight greenhouse production and unified standard harvest of the plant factory strictly follow the standardized process and the testing standards of international authoritative institutions throughout the process. Hydroponic vegetables grown in a fully environmentally controlled status which is clean and fresh without soil. Consumers can eat them without cleaning after purchase.

Wu zhong sheng also introduced that the plant factory creates an environment suitable for the growth of vegetable seedlings through artificial light and computer control of natural conditions required for plant growth, such as temperature, light, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, etc. In such an environment, the vegetable seedlings can grow in about 15 days. They can be taken out from the seedling room and planted on the cultivation bed. After growing for another 25 days, they can be harvested.

It is worth mentioning that with advanced technology and management capabilities, Jingdong plant factory is also favored by some scientific research institutions to help them try new varieties.

At present, some scientific research institutions or breeding units will take the seeds to Jingdong plant factory for seed screening, so that these new varieties can be better and faster localized during planting. At present, the factory has tried more than 30 new varieties, including some foreign new products. (source: Beijing Daily)