Sci-tech versatility has boosted high-quality floriculture in southwest China's Yunnan Province, which has shifted from a traditional flower producer to a modern one featuring tech-savvy processing and marketing.
Yunnan Province exported fresh-cut flowers worth 570 million yuan (about 80 million U.S. dollars) in 2023, maintaining its top position in the country for the fifth consecutive year.
To meet the substantial demand for these specialty goods, Yunnan Province launched a trillion-yuan modern agriculture initiative with plateau characteristics in 2020. This initiative has facilitated partnerships between enterprises and scientific research institutions, accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies in flower cultivation.
Standardized management, integrated water and fertilizer systems, and soilless cultivation have effectively addressed industry challenges.
"The intelligent greenhouses automatically adjust sunlight, temperature, and humidity using draft fans, windows, and sunshields, which significantly improves plant growth and enhances yields. Such facilities have extended harvesting seasons to six to seven times per year, yielding between 160,000 to 180,000 flowers per mu (about 0.067 hectares)," said Sun Xiaoming, associate professor of China Agricultural University.
The classification process for flowers has also been revolutionized for greater efficiency.
"Previously, manual classification led to constant errors. Now, our self-developed automatic classification equipment uses three industrial cameras to grade fresh-cut flowers into 28 categories based on size, bloom degree, and branch length," said Sun.
Following effective post-harvest treatments, cut flowers are then distributed to markets. From planting to trading, Yunnan's flower industry is becoming more environmentally friendly and efficient, driven by these new high-quality production methods.
Sci-tech versatility boosts high-quality floriculture in Yunnan
