China: additional veggie farms to prevent shortages

The city will build more than 30,000 hectares of farms for green-leaf vegetables to ensure local supply can meet demand even in the face of catastrophic weather.

"By setting up the bases, we want to offer full supply of green-leaf vegetables for local people even if we meet calamitous weather," said Zhang Sirong, director of the Shanghai Vegetable Office. Zhang said the farms will be gradually set up within 10 years.

Construction recently started on a vegetable farm that will cover 7 hectares in Datuan Town of Nanhui District. About 10 such farms in Pudong New Area, Songjiang and Jinshan districts are currently under construction, Zhang said.

One-quarter of the farmland to be set up for green vegetables will be equipped with high-tech facilities costing 600,000 yuan (US$74,074) a hectare. Another quarter will be installed with basic-level production facilities with an investment of 150,000 yuan per hectare. Seasonal vegetables will be grown in the rest of the farms.

The city suffered a shortage of green-leaf veggies twice this summer because two strong typhoon — Matsa and Khanun — flooded most of the vegetable farms in the city and destroyed the sheds that covered the fields.

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