Fresh veg on menu for polar scientists

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Shanghai Daily, May 23, 2015
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Working thousands of miles from home, China's Antarctic researchers are deprived of many of life's luxuries, but thanks to a team of Shanghai-based scientists, they no longer have to go without fresh vegetables.

Since last month, a high-tech greenhouse at the Great Wall Station — China's 30-year-old research facility at the South Pole — has been providing a range of fresh produce to the inhabitants of the remote base.

Just last week, scientists at the station were able to make jiaozi — a traditional Chinese dumpling eaten at family gatherings — using fresh chives they picked themselves, said Zhou Qiang, vice general manager of Shanghai Urban Green Engineering, the company that developed the greenhouse.

The 36-square-meter structure is made mostly of high-quality plexiglass, as used in airplane windows, Zhou told Shanghai Daily yesterday. "This allows sunlight in, but is tough enough to withstand snowstorms," he said.

The greenhouse, which is the first of its kind in the world, is also equipped with geothermal heat pumps and LED lights to ensure optimal growing conditions around the clock, whatever the weather is doing outside, he said.

It's also very eco-friendly, as an integrated computer system manages all of the agricultural processes, such as watering the plants and adjusting humidity levels, Zhou said.

"All the scientists have to do is tap in a few details on a keyboard and the system does the rest," he said.

Besides chives, the super-greenhouse can produce more than 20 types of vegetables, including tomato, lettuce, cabbage, muskmelon and sweet pepper, all of which grow in rock wool, an insulation material made from actual rocks, Zhou said.

After tasting success with their vegetables, experts at Urban Green are now working on ways to grow fruit in the greenhouse, though this poses new challenges.

"Most fruits grow on trees, rather than in the ground, but we are working with plants like watermelon and strawberry," Zhou said.

Based on the data fed back to Shanghai by the computer system, the company is also developing a larger version of the greenhouse, which could be ready next year, he said.

"We hope to build not only a greenhouse but a complete ecological garden," he said.

"This would mean that the researchers would not only be able to grow fruit and veg, but also have somewhere nice to sit and relax," he said.

Prior to the installation of the greenhouse, Chinese scientists at the South Pole had to rely on the icebreaker "Xuelong" to deliver fresh produce to them.

"It was a really costly way to do it," Zhou said.

"On every trip, about half of the vegetables were lost or wasted," he said.

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