Green houses for tomato plantation are equipped with advanced facilities in Cangnan county, Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnxw.com.cn]

Cangnan county in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, one of the major growing areas for tomatoes in China, joined hands with national key projects to pilot the county's tomato plantation.

A research and development project on reducing the use of chemical fertilizer took place in Cangnan in 2016.

The project is one of the most important on China's R&D list during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). Li Baoju, an expert from China Academy of Agricultural Sciences, explained why the government chose Cangnan to accommodate the project. He said the large plantation area, the highly integrated resources and the country-leading plantation technologies were the main reasons.

Now, a series of advanced technologies have been applied at green houses in Cangnan, including the soilless plantation, nutrient-filled water instead of chemical fertilizer and grafting.

The soilless plantation is a safe growing technique which uses fewer chemicals but produces more fruit, according to Li. The nutrient water, a kind of environmentally friendly fertilizer, is an effective way to conserve water and protect the soil from pollution.

Li said the results of the project in Cangnan are quite satisfying. "There will be more high-quality tomatoes," he said.

The upgraded tomato plantation is attracting young people to the agriculture industry. Yi Jikao, a man born in 1987, succeeded his father as a tomato farmer. Yi thought young people are more open to new information and technologies, which he hopes will be useful for its future development. "Young people's willingness to work in the industry shows our confidence in the development of agriculture," Yi said.