July and August as peak season for the base’s chrysanthemum harvesting (Photo by Xue Caosheng and Chen Siyan (Intern))
In Chenhuang Village, Yunlong Town, Yinzhou District of Ningbo, a 200-mu (ca. 13.3 hectares) flower cultivation base just finished its busiest season of annual harvest for the year of 2022. At the peak of this season, over a hundred farmers worked there every day, and the daily volume of fresh-cut flowers exported to Japan could amount to a truck of containers. These flowers reach the Japanese market within only 7 days. In a one-month period, the Yinzhou base exported 1.7 million chrysanthemums, with sales of 2.5 million yuan.
在鄞州區云龍鎮陳黃村，有一片200畝的鮮切花生產種植基地，一年中最忙的采收季剛剛結束。高峰期這里每天有上百人同時采摘，每天有一輛集裝箱車運送鮮切花往日本，7天到日本市場。一個月時間，該基地已經出口了170萬枝菊花，銷售額達到250萬元。
Chenhuang Village with ca. 2,500 mu (166.7 hectares) of growing fields had previously specialized in rice cultivation. “We have been considering how to increase villagers’ income by fully utilizing rural land resources and increasing the average output value per mu after the centralized transfer of rural land-use rights,” revealed Liang Guocheng, director of the village’s agribusiness. Against changing markets, the fresh-cut flower industry presents an exciting prospect. In October 2019, Fang Hua Fresh-Cut Flower Cultivation Base (henceforth Fang Hua) settled in Chenhuang Village; it was the first chrysanthemum project introduced into Yinzhou District and the first ever fresh-cut flower base in Ningbo.
以前，陳黃村農業以水稻種植為主，種植面積大約有2500畝。“土地集中流轉以后，我們一直在考慮如何盤活農村土地資源，提升畝均產值，切實提高村民收入。”陳黃村農業社長梁國成說，隨著市場格局的不斷變化，鮮切花市場前景可期。2019年10月，芳華鮮切花生產種植基地(以下簡稱芳華)落戶陳黃村，這是鄞州區引進的第一個菊花鮮切花項目，也是寧波首個鮮切花生產種植基地。
Large-scale flower planting is known to require constant temperature and humidity which the growing fields of Chenhuang Village lack. To solve the problem, the village actively collaborated with related enterprises to set up greenhouses and excellent floriculturists from Yunnan Province were also invited to offer training sessions for the local villagers. Given that years of rice planting had led to a decline in fertility, planting density and the concentration of organic fertilizers have been scientifically maintained in recent years to steadily promote the quality of fresh-cut flowers.
規模化種植花卉需要恒溫恒濕，陳黃村原先的農田不具備條件，村企聯動搭建溫室大棚，并從云南請來農藝師傅，組織村民集中學習。多年種植導致肥力下降，企業科學控制有機肥含量，保持合理密度，在村企聯動下鮮切花品質穩定提升。
Every regulation step is crucial: cottage seedling, deep plowing, top removal, bud trimming, and daily care. A couple of years before, 10 million yuan had been invested to upgrade the village greenhouses. The greenhouse temperature generally needs to be maintained above 3℃, or the chrysanthemums will freeze and die. Once the temperature exceeds 30℃, the spray cooling system starts up. With regard to other environmental conditions, plants (and the planted flowers here) in general need over 8 hours of sunlight per day. “For these delicate flowers, shadowing must be supplied if the sunlight is too strong; extra sunlight must however be provided if it is insufficient,” added Jin Wenliang, a special expert appointed to supervise locals in planting and harvesting.
從插苗、深耕、摘心、抹芽再到日常護理，每個步驟都不能馬虎。前兩年，企業投入1000萬元，升級改造高質量聯動大棚。一般來說，大棚溫度需保持在3℃以上，太冷菊花會凍壞。一旦大棚溫度超過30℃，就要開啟霧化降溫。對植物來說，每天日照需要8小時以上。“要伺候好花仙子，光線太強時就要給它們遮陽；光照不夠時，晚上就需要補光。”金文良是基地特別聘請的專業人士，手把手指導農戶種植和采收。
“It turns to be horrifically hot this summer. So, these days we’ve been getting up as early as around 4 a.m. and working until 9 to 10 p.m., with a lunch break in between,” introduced Yang Zhiyan, a 40-year-old female working at the base for three years. Although the work is hard, the couple are now pleased that their income has increased significantly in the past few years. “We're really content with our annual income. You see, now we can earn 120,000 to 150,000 yuan per year.”
“今年夏天太熱了，基本上我們四點左右就起來了，中午休息一會兒，晚上要忙到九十點鐘。”今年40歲的楊志燕在基地勞作三年了，雖然工作辛苦，但讓夫妻倆高興的是，這兩年腰包明顯鼓了。“算下來，一年能掙12萬元—15萬元，我們挺知足的！”
“Our fresh-cut chrysanthemums will first be stored in the cold storage and then packed into bundles before their whole logistics distribution via cold-chains. The flowers are still very fresh when entering the Japanese market after seven days of transportation,” said Mao Jielie (manager of Ningbo Fanghua Agricultural Science Technology Development Co., Ltd.) proudly.
“我們采收的鮮切菊花會先進入冷庫，再由工人們進行分裝處理，全程冷藏保鮮，七天就能進入日本市場。”寧波芳華農業科技發展有限公司經理毛潔裂說。
During the interview, Mao revealed to the journalists of Ningbo Evening News that in the earlier days, the base used to export roughly 60 percent of its chrysanthemums to Japan. Thanks to the subsequent soil improvement and technological advancement, the proportion can now reach 75 to 80 percent. Throughout a year, around 6 million chrysanthemums could be exported to Japan, totaling a sales volume of 9 million yuan.
采訪中，毛潔裂脫口而出報給記者一組數據：以前，基地能出口日本的菊花大約占60%，經過土壤改良、技術提升后，現在占比能達到75%—80%。全年出口日本的菊花約600萬株，銷售額900萬元。
After two phases of construction, the flower base now covers an area of 2,000m2 and continues to expand its planting size. Impressively, this base has become a leading exporter of fresh-cut chrysanthemums in Zhejiang Province, creating job opportunities for more than 70 local farmers. “During the peak seasons for harvesting, there is often a lack of labor force and local villagers will come to assist. They can earn several hundred yuan per day,” added Ye Jianfei, Party secretary of Chenhuang Village.
鮮切花生產基地經過兩期的投入建設，目前已占地2000平方米，還在不斷擴大種植規模，現在已經是浙江省內出口鮮切菊花的重要基地，吸納70多名周邊農戶就業。“最忙的采摘期，有時候人手不夠，當地村民也會幫忙，一天能掙幾百元。”陳黃村黨委書記葉劍飛說。
Reporters: Xue Caosheng and Chen Siyan (Intern)
Correspondent: Yu Fan Translator: Mei Jie
Proofreaders: Huang Dawang, Zhang Dongjing, Jason Mowbray