10
第17卷第1期2001年1月农业工程学报
T r ansa ct ions of t he CSA E Vo l. 17 N o. 1Jan. 2001
0010-06A rticle ID :1002-6819(2001) 01-
Development of Soilless Culture in Mainland China
Jiang Weijie , Liu Wei , Yu Hongju n , Zheng Gu anghua
(I nstitute of V egetables and Flow er s , Chinese A cademy of A g ricultur al Sciences , Beij ing 100081, China ) Abstract :Soilless culture has developed ver y rapidly dur ing the last fifteen y ears in mainland China. T he area of soilless culture in China was ar o und 0. 1hm 2in 1985, 50hm 2of so illess cult ur e ar ea in 1995, at pr esent ther e is about 315hm 2of soilless culture , it incr eased by about 5times as compar ed w it h 5y ears ag o . M o st areas ar e for
veg etable pr oduct ion , and a few fo r flow er pr o ductio n . T hey are m ainly eco -or ganic t ype soilless cultur e sy stem , flo ating capillar y hy dr opo nics, N FT , D FH and L u-SC system. T he m ain pro blems ar e how t o r educe facilit y investment to pr oduce non-po llutio n hig h quality g reen foo d, and keep g oo d pro ductio n env ir onment. T he eco -or ga nic type so illess cultur e sy stems can pro duce or ganic Gr ade A A gr een fo od . T he r epor t int ro duced the br ief histor y o f soilless cultur e, main soilless cultur e sy st ems, main pr og ress in r esear ch and ex tension w or k, a t last discussed the futur e of soilless cultur e in mainland China.
Key words :so illess cultur e; nutr ient solut ion; pr ot ect ed hor ticulture; gr eenho use ; veg etables CLC number :S 317 Document code :A
1 Introduction
The com mercial soilless culture in China beg an in 1941. A farm of vegetable soilless pr oduction w as built in Shang hai. Because of too hig h productio n co st, the farm was bankr upt rapidly . Then ther e w as no com mercial soilless vegetable
pro duction
in
China,
until
1976
Shando ng Ag ricultural University pro duced soille-ss veg etable w ith g ravel in a small area. But from 1985～1995soilless culture w as key pr oject of the M inistry of Ag ricultur e , since 1996it has becom e national key project, which directly resulted in very rapid developm ent of soilless cultur e in last 15years in mainland China . Area o f soilless culture in China w as aro und 0. 1hm in 1985. By 1990
2
mainland China had dev elo ped 7hm of different types of soilless culture system s, by 1995China had 50hm of soilless culture, at present there is abo ut 315hm of so illess culture. It increased by abo ut 5times as com pared w ith 5y ears ago. M ost areas are fo r vegetable production and a few for
Received date :2000-11-05
Biograp hies :J iang W eijie , male , ass ociate p rofess or ; Liu W ei , male, Yu male, ass p rofessor ; Zh 22
2
flow er pr oduction. T he main system s are eco-o rganic type so illess culture system ,
floating
capillary hydroponics, N FT , DFH and Lu-SC system. The main pro blems are ho w to reduce initial capital investment to pr oduce non-po llution high quality g reen fo od and keep environment safe. T he eco -or ganic type so illess culture system can produce org anic Grade AA gr een food .
Because economy developed very quickly in m ainland China , city residents and rural dw eller s have a trendency to loo k for and purchase high quality fresh vegetables , and parts of these v eg etable were exported to some Asian co untries, and tourism developed fast, and China has the lar gest area of protected horticutur al field in the w o rld, especially the solar lean-to g reenho use in north of China and simple plastichouse in south of China. All these stimulated the soilless culture for v eg etable pr oduction dev elo ping rapidly in China.
2 Main Soilless Culture Systems Used in China
From 1986～1990, Chinese researchers had paid much attentions to learn , introduce and m ake copies of differ ent soilless cultur e systems fro m
第1期蒋卫杰等:中国大陆无土栽培发展概况11
Nutr ient Film Technique (NFT ) , Deep Flo w Technique(DFT ) , Ro ckw ool Cultur e, Bag Culture and Tro ug h Culture, etc.. In r ecent 10years China had researched and developed some ow n sy stems such as eco -org anic type soilless culture sy stem, floating capillary hydroponics system, etc.. Which w ere low co st, m ore suitable for local co nditions . All of these systems ar e using domestic instrum ents and fer tilizers, producing w hole set of different ty pe soilless systems to supply domestic gr ow ers .
2. 1 Eco -organic Type Soilless Culture System
This is a type of tro ug h culture, local substrates w ere used such as coal cinder, peat moss , ver miculite , coir , sawdust , perlite , sand , rice husk and m ushr oom w aste, etc. , in o rder to reduce the initial investment. These mater ials have mor e buffer effects , can be used successfully and get g ood results . The mixture of tw o or three kind of substrates are o ften made for getting better physical and chemical properties.
The system was first developed by Chinese Academ y of Agricultural Sciences in early 1990's, w hich consists of tr oug h, PE film irrig ation tape and substrates. T he tro ug h is made by thr ee layers of brick (size 5cm ×12cm ×24cm ) w ith 15cm in heig ht and 48cm in w idth. The leng th of trough is in accordance with the type of gr eenho uses. In traditional Chinese lean -to greenhouse the tro ug h leng th is 5～6m , but in modern m ulti -span gr eenhouse the tro ug h leng th is aro und 30m. The botto m of tro ug h is covered w ith 0. 1mm PE film to prevent soil -borne pests and diseases attacking . Eco -o rganic ty pe soilless cultur e technique use so lid fertilizer (80%～100%org anic fertilizers plus 0～20%inorg anic fertilizers ) instead o f nutr ient so lution to feed the crop , and just irrigate fr esh w ater during the w ho le perio d of cro p g row th. The org anic fertilizer is a mixture including sterilized chicken manure , o il cake po wder and corn or sun flow er stem pow der. These mater ials need to be co mpo sted at first. 1m of substrate mix ed w ith 10
kg 3
hm .
transplanting tom ato , cucumber,
m elon or other cr op seedling s , ev er y 10day s interv al, side dressing solid fertilizer is supplied. Each day irrig ated w ith fresh w ater only. A s compared w ith soilless cultur e using nutrient solutio n , eco -org anic type soilless culture sy stem decreased initial inv estm ent up to 60%～80%, fertilizer co st up to 60%; greatly simplified the r ule of oper ation and improve the quality of v eg etables. It w as spr ead v ery rapidly, reached about 200hm at the end of 1999, and account for o ver 60%of total area of so illess culture in China . T his method introduced org anic ag ricultur e into soilless cultur e. It is an or ganic, sustainable ag riculture, and now is ex tended in different parts o f China . T his is a distinctive feature of soilless culture in China. 2. 2 Bag Culture System
T o fill substrates in w hite PE film bag , the comm on bag size is 70cm ×35cm , w hich can fill up 18L of substrates for tw o tomato or cucum ber plants, then irrig ated w ith nutrient solution. T his m ethod is mainly used in Guangdong Province for v eg etable pr oduction.
2. 3 Rockwool Culture System
ex cellent substrate for
g row ing v eg etables and flow ers . Because the co st is high, it is not po pular in China. Since 1996China has imported 30hm o f g reenhouse fro m Netherland . M ost of these greenhouses utilize r ockw ool for v eg etable pr oduction . 2. 4 Lu -SC Type Soilless System
T his system w as dev eloped by Shandong Ag ricultural U niversity , including trough , nutr ient solution tank, pum p, nutrient input and drainag e pipe, etc.. T rough is up-side dow n
triangle shape (“V ”fram e ) made of iron , cement o r earth co vered by PE film , each side o f tro ug h is 20cm. One end of the tro ug h for w ater entering and the another end installed w ith siphon pipe for drainag e . Abo ve the bo ttom 5cm , an iron screen covered by palm fibr e w as set, then fill up 10cm 2
2
2
After
Rockw oo l is an
12农业工程学报2001年
4times . T he system w as m ainly ex tended in Shando ng Province and Xinjiang region. 2. 5 Nutrient Film Technique (NFT ) System NFT system w as mainly extended in Nanjing . In recent decades , most of them w ere gro w ing lettuce and tomato. T he problem is that it canno t resist po wer lost, temperature of nutrient solution is not easy to control in summer and co use to o hig h nitrate in plant bo dy , so it is difficult to ex tend quickly in near future.
2. 6 Floating Capillary Hydroponics (FCH ) System
The system co nsists of four parts, that is:trough,
nutrient
tank,
recirculating
and
co ntrolling systems . T he trough is made by po lysty rene plate with 40～50cm w ide, 10cm hig h and 15～20m lo ng on the g round at the sam e level . The trough is lined by 0. 8mm PE film for leak proof . The depth o f nutrient so lution is 3～6cm. A 1. 2cm thick, 12cm w ide poly styrene plate floated on the nutrient solutio n surface, 50g /m non -w ov en fabrics spread on the plate and both sides ex tended into solution. T hrough capillary action to keep the floating plate w et, the roo t sy stem gro ws up and dow n around the plate and uptakes ox yg en and nutrient elements .
The sy stem w as dev elo ped by Zhejiang Academ y o f Agricultural Sciences and Nanjing Agr icultural University , and mainly ex tended in Jiangsu , Zhejiang Prov ince , etc .. 2. 7 Deep Flow Hydroponics System
The system is sim ilar w ith FCH sy stem, but w ithout floating plate . T he depth of nutr ient so lution is around 5～8cm. The sy stem can keep tem perature mor e stable and resist for suddenly out o f pow er . It is now ex tended to the tro pical and subtropical areas in China , such as Guang dong Pro vince.
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M ost soilless culture research w orks are focused on adapting adv anced soilless culture technique to China local circum stances. How to decrease onetime investment , incr ease econom ic profit , pr oduce non -pollution veg etables are the first priority of research w ork. For many y ears, w e had tr ied many hydro ponic system s, but no o ne is predo minant over others in different parts of China. T he recirculating systems such as N utrient Film T echnique, Deep Flow Hy dro ponics and Floating Capillary Hydroponics are high in initial capital investm ent and need a lot energ y for adjusting and recirculating of nutr ient so lution. Rockw oo l system and bag system can be either non -recirculating or circulating of nutrient solutio n. All these systems use inorg anic fertilizer s to make nutrient solution, consuming energy and draining waste nutrient so lution polluting the environment . We call these ino rganic energ y consuming ty pe soilless cultur e system s. Ano ther o ne uses local substrates and a lar ge amo unt of sterilized org anic fertilizer s in trough systems , irr ig ates just fresh w ater. The organic fertilizer can gradually be dissolv ed in w ater to supply the need of plant gro w th and development. T he
draining water has no pollution to enviro nm ent . T he initial o netime investm ent is low er as compared with inorganic energy -consuming ty pe soilless culture systems . W e call this system as eco -org anic type soilless culture system .
2) Resear ch o n substrates
Soilless substrates prev ailing used in the w o rld are peat , rockw ool , et al . T hese substrates are of ideal phy sical and chemical characteristics for soilless culture, and can get goo d production o utput . But these substrates are all unregenerated natural reso urces (especially fo r peat ) , and old r ockw ool also could result in severe environmental problem. T herefore m uch attentions have been paid to peat /rockwo ol substitutes recently , considerable researches in this regard were conducted. Ag ricultural w aste (sunflow er stem , 3 The Progress on Research and Extension
3. 1 Research Activities
1) sy T he development
of
so illess culture
第1期蒋卫杰等:中国大陆无土栽培发展概况13
husk , r eed w aste and mushroo m waste , etc . ) as so illess substrates for replacing peat/rockw oo l has go tten successful results and show n gr eat potential in economic profit and environmental protection .
3) Researh o n nutrient solutio n manag em ent Though eco -organic type soilless culture has been w idely distributed in different parts o f China, much attentio n has still been paid to nutr ient so lution w hich is considered as a main part of so illess cultur e sy stem s. Considerable researches related to nutrient solution have been conducted , such as r ecipes , ratio o f nitrog en to potassium ,
-ratio o f NH +4to NO 3, av ailability o f different ir on so urces, controlling of pH and EC, relationship betw een w ater quality and soilless culture sy stems, diseases control in nutrient solutio n. The results are satisfactory and enhanced crop yield.
4) Research on g reenho use cr op yield
Crop y ield is the base o f econom ic pr ofit . All the matters to g row ers to choose greenhouse crop pr oduction sy stem is w hether it g ets higher crop yield and makes m ore mo ney . Since 1990, the detailed resear ch on effects o f w ater , nutrient and enviro nm ent o n greenhouse vegetable grow th and development in so illess culture sy stems has been co nducted . M ain cr ops are to mato , cucum ber , pepper, m elo n and lettuce, etc. , and a great pr ogress has been made on crop y ield. The results available are satisfacto ry , the y ield of g reenho use vegetable productio n in soilless culture sy stems has been enhanced greatly(T ab. 2).
Tab . 1 The average yield of vegetable
production in greenhouse
Averag e yield /kg ・(m 2・a ) -1
g rade gr een fo od (org anic foo d ) is not allo w ed to use any chem ical fertilizers and pesticides, this m eans that only organic fertilizers and biolog ical control can be used during the g row th of crops . So o nly the eco -org anic type soilless culture sy stem can pr oduce A A-grade green foo d (org anic food). Nitrate in hum an body is around 80%uptake from v eg etables eated . T oo much nitrate in human body can result in stom ach cancer. Veg etables uptaken different ty pe of fertilizer s have different r esults . Fo r ex ample , ev en if the same amount of NPK was supplied in the soilless culture systems , the contents o f nitrate in celery and lettuce plant body feeded by nutrient solution w ere one thir d higher than tho se using org anic manur e in the processing o f productio n. At the same tim e o rganic m anure can reduce acid content and increase Vitamin C content in plant body .
In eco -org anic ty pe so illess culture system , 70%～80%(even 100%) of total solid fertilizer s used are sterilized org anic fertilizer s, so the quality o f vegetables are improved undoubtedly (T ab . 2).
Tab . 2 Nitrate (NO -3) content of vegetable in dif ferent soilless culture systems
10-6
Vegetables Pok ch oi L ettuce Cucumber Bean M elon
Eco-organic s ystem
2437133917. 841. 7629. 8
Water cu lture
3855202835. 490. 8289. 7
3. 2 Extension Work
Because economic development is very fast in r ecent decades in mainland China , the area of soilless culture spread very quickly , especially in r ecent three years. In 1995m ainland China had 50hm so illess culture, but in 1999it has pro gressed
2
to abo ut 315hm soilless culture . M ost areas are for vegetable pro duction to pro duce non -po llution g reen fo od, and a few for flow er pr oduction. T he distribution o f soilless culture in China is as follo w s (T ab . 3).
2
1989～19901994～19951999～2000
8. 09. 0
10. 015. 0
19. 030. 0
Soil culture Soilles s cultu re
5) Research on g reenho use cr op quality According to the regulatio n o f g reen food pr oduction
issued by Chinese Green Food
Developing Centre , pro duction of A -grade gr een fo od is allow ed to use little amount of chemical but of -
14
Tab . 3 The distribution of soilless culture
in mainland China in 1999
Location Beijing T ianjin Sh angh ai Nanjing W uxi Changzhou H angz hou Guangzh ou Liaonin g T otal
Area 8. 04. 030. 06. 04. 02. 06. 07. 050. 0
Location Shenzh en Zhuhai Daqing Sh engli Dagang Hainan Xinjiang S han xi Other s
Area 10. 03. 03. 53. 01. 52. 025. 0100. 050. 0315. 0
农业工程学报2001年
hm 2
Ho lland . T hese obviously indicate that soilless culture w ill has larg e potential and bright future in China.
2) T he standard metho d of gr ow ing gr eenho -use cro ps throughout China is in soil . A m ajor problem in gr ow ing greenhouse crops in soil are soil-borne diseases and high salinity. Grow ing plants continuo usly , w ithout cro p rotation or interr uptio n in productio n can lead to an excessive build-up of soil pathogens and salinity. T his problem , added to the high cost of soil sterilizati -o n , is fo cusing on metho ds of soilless culture .
3)
Soilless culture is possibly the mo st
intensive crop pro duction in today's agricultural industry . In combination w ith greenhouses or protective culture, it is high technolo gy and capital intensive. It needs qualified technicians to operate and m anage the so illess culture system s . After 15y ears dev elo pm ent of soilless culture , a g reat am ount o f ex tensive and technical booklets have been co mpiled and distributed, a tho usands of technicians and g row ers engaged in greenhouse crop production have been tr ained. These pr ovide the technical and personnel suppo rt o n fur ther developm ent of soilless culture.
4) China is sho rt of tillable land and w ater r esources, the amount o f tillable land and w ater r esources per capita are abo ut 1/3and 1/4o f w orld av erag e per capita respectively . Soilless culture is also hig hly productiv e , co nser vativ e of w ater and land. It can sav e w ater up to 50%～70%and is able to pr oduce high quality fo od o n w asteland w hich lar gely ex isted in China .
5) Eco -o rganic type so illess culture, w ith its low initial capital inv estment, lo w running cost, simple operatio n rule as com pared w ith traditional soilless culture system w hich uses nutrient solution to feed plant, w ill play mo re and mo re important r ole
contributio n to the future
developm ent of soilless culture .
6) With development of state economy and enhancement o f people's liv ing level, there is a e in
further
Though a lot o f prog ress have been made on nutrient solution, soilless system s using nutr ient so lution ar e still not o nly hig h capital investment , but also difficult to operate for individual grow er in China , w hich gr eatly limited the spread of soilless culture system s using nutr ient solution. In fact, at pr esent the mo st ar ea of soilless culture is eco -org anic ty pe so illess culture sy stem , it takes accounts for over 60%o f total area of soilless culture in China (see Tab . 4) . T his is a distinctive featur e of soilless cultur e in China.
Tab . 4 The distribution of eco -organic type soilless culture system in China in 1999
Location Beijing T ianjin Jilin Henan Ninx ia Inn er M angolia Guangdong Liaonin g T otal
Area 5. 04. 02. 01. 01. 03. 015. 040. 0
190. 5
Location S han xi Dagang Daqing Heb ei Hainan Xinjiang Other s
Area 100. 01. 01. 58. 01. 02. 06. 0
hm
2
4 The Future Development of Soilless Cul -ture
1) At present , China has 250000hm of gr eenhouses , w hich takes first place in the w o rld , but the area o f soilless culture is about 315hm 2w hich only accounts for 0. 12%in total area of gr eenhouse.
W hile the per centage of soilless
culture is about 20%in total ar ea o f g reenhouse in . 2
第1期蒋卫杰等:中国大陆无土栽培发展概况
A gr icultur al Science P ress , Beijing , 1994.
15
looking fo r and pur chasing health , safe and hig h quality veg etables. And after entry to WTO, w e hav e to produce high quality vegetables and flow er s to take par t in the co mpetitio n in international market . All these w ill promo te the mor e rapid development of soilless culture. In o ne w ord, Soilless culture in China has brilliant future .
References
[1] M H Jensen. Pr otected ag riculture ——a g lobal r ev -iew. W or ld Bank T echnical P aper N umber , 1995. 253.
[2] Zheng Guanghua. Pr esent sit uat ion and dev elo pm ent
of so illess culture in China. Pr oceeding s o f Sino-International Co lloquium on Soilless Culture'94,
[3] Jia ng W J, et al. P resent situation and pr ospect of
eco -o rg anic type soilless culture. Review of China A g ricultura l Science and T echno log y, 2000, 2(2) :71～754.
[4] Jiang W J, et al. P resent situation and sug gestion for
sustainable dev elo pment of pro tected hor ticulture in mainland China . Chinese Bullet in , 2000, 16(3) :61～63.
A gr icultur al
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[5] Jiang W J, et al. A pplicat ion o f ag ricultural w aste as
peat substitute for soilless cultur e.
T r ans o f the
CSA E , 1998, 14.
[6] Jiang W J , Zheng G H . Study o n technique o f ecol -og ical sound o rg anic soilless culture and its nutr ient phy siolog y. A cta Hor ticult ur ae Sinica, 1996, 23(2) :139～144.
中国大陆无土栽培发展概况
蒋卫杰, 刘 伟, 余宏军, 郑光华
(中国农业科学研究院蔬菜花卉所, 北京 100081)
摘 要:近15年来, 中国无土栽培的发展异常迅猛, 1985年全国无土栽培的面积只有0. 1hm 2, 1995年发展到50hm 2。目前中国无土栽培的总面积约为315hm 2, 与5年前相比增长了3倍多, 其中绝大部分都用于蔬菜生产, 只有很小一部分用于花卉生产。目前中国生产上使用的无土栽培系统主要为有机生态型无土栽培系统、浮板毛管法、N FT 、DF H 和鲁-SC 系统。存在的主要问题是如何降低无土栽培系统的投资、提高产量、改善品质、并不污染环境。有机生态型无土栽培能生产绿色食品蔬菜。该文主要介绍了中国无土栽培的历史、采用的主要无土栽培系统型式、无土栽培研究和推广工作进展以及无土栽培在中国的发展前景。关键词:无土栽培; 营养液; 设施园艺; 温室; 蔬菜