The vegetables produced by the intelligent vegetable cultivation base invested by Yuanhong Group in Tongzhou district, Nantong are cleaner and neater than traditionally grown vegetables. [Photo/WeChat account: jstzrb]

Yuanhong Group – a State-owned enterprise managed by Tongzhou district's State-owned assets supervision and administration office – invested more than 13 million yuan ($2.01 million) in the building of an intelligent agricultural base in Shizong town in Tongzhou district, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province.

The base covers an area of 10 mu (0.67 hectare), of which the intelligent greenhouse occupies over 4,500 square meters. It is also equipped with LED seedling rooms, as well as rooms for cultivation, operation and control.

Compared with traditionally grown vegetables, hydroponic vegetables have high water content and a good raw taste, and are highly customizable, though they cost slightly more to grow.

"We set it in advance when preparing the nutrient solution, and can cultivate low-potassium vegetables suitable for patients with kidney disease or low-sugar vegetables for patients with diabetes, which isn't possible with traditional vegetable cultivation," said Mei Dezhou, the person in charge of the base.

"The environment can be managed remotely through computer or mobile phone, which lowers the technical requirements of on-site management personnel," Mei added.

Compared with traditional cultivation methods, the intelligent method gets rid of the impact of weather, greatly increases output, and reduces labor costs.

The base will produce 1,200 tons of vegetables annually. The soilless vegetables are neater and cleaner, with 40 percent less loss than ordinary ones.