PR98441

SHANGHAI, Oct. 24, 2022 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

For the highest quality produce, from restaurants to kitchen tables, green,

organic, and fresh are the standard. The concept of "green" guarantees a

certain quality of agricultural product, while flavor adds to the market value.

In this regard, Chongming produce has a clear advantage as high-quality soil

leads to high-quality crops.

Chongming's soil contains much less cadmium, mercury, arsenic, lead, chromium,

copper, nickel and zinc. It's in line with the standard of the Ministry of

Agriculture, with over 70 percent of Chongming's farmland using high-quality or

above average soil.

Chongming is also the largest estuarine alluvial island in the world, with the

land saturated with sediment carried by the Yangtze River. With less alkaline

and sandy soil and rich in nutrients, the soil on Chongming Island provides

fertile ground for the growth of rhizome plants such as yams, sweet potatoes

and taros.

Chongming crispy taro has been cultivated for over 400 years and has already

become a national well-known product.

In Luhu Village, half of the farmers grow crispy taro, a top-seller among

downtown buyers. Gu Junjie, Party chief of the village, said that Chongming's

crispy taro is highly recognizable both in appearance and taste.

"Someone tried to plant crispy taro in nearby Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces,

but the flavor was clearly different. That's because of our environment, land

and planting methods, among other things," Gu said.

Dr. Du Hongmei, a research fellow at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has been

paying close attention to Chongming crispy taro. Through various measurements,

he found that the amylopectin content and other flavor substances in Chongming

crispy taro is indeed higher than those from other plantation regions.

Besides crispy taro, white lentil, golden melon and rice are all Chongming's

characteristic agricultural products. In recent years, Chongming has

accelerated the development of seed sources, thus promoting the

commercialization, scale and industrialization of these agricultural products.

In addition to natural advantages, Chongming farmers are good at "cultivating

soil".

The Shanghai Yingyu Fruit and Vegetable Professional Cooperative in Xinhe Town

mainly grows honey pears. The cooperative has insisted on using only organic

fertilizers for many years. Shi Liping, head of the cooperative, said the use

of chemical fertilizers would not guarantee the quality of the pears, and would

also make the soil hard. Shi's cooperative uses soybean as organic fertilizer,

and prepares the land by growing grass. They then cut the grass with a mower

and leave the clippings in rows. As the dead grass rot, it in turn nourishes

the soil.

So far, Chongming has formulated stringent access standards for the inputs in

agriculture to ensure the safety and sustainable use of farmland. It has

established a green food chain mechanism and eliminated the circulation of

unqualified agricultural material from the source.

It has also carried out agricultural pollution control, increased the

adjustment of agricultural industrial structure, accelerated the resource

utilization of agricultural production waste and orderly implemented soil

remediation.

Source: Information Office of Shanghai Chongming District People's Government

Image Attachments Links:

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   Caption: Chongming produce has a clear advantage as high-quality soil leads to

high-quality crops.

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   Caption: Chongming crispy taro