Shanxi to build Tomato Theme Town

Asia's largest single intelligent greenhouse has gone under construction in Taigu county, the Agriculture Valley of Shanxi province.

The 30-hectare greenhouse will consist of eight planting areas for tomatoes, two sightseeing areas, one equipment storage area, and a workshop for processing, sorting, packing and storing tomatoes.

The workshop will be equipped with such smart facilities and technologies as an automatic numerical control system for growing seedlings, an integrated irrigation and fertilization system, and a smart packing and assembly line.

The intelligent tomato greenhouse is a part of the Tomato Theme Town project covering 350 hectares in Taigu county and has attracted 5 billion yuan ($777.52 million) in investment. Tomato Theme Town will invest 300 million yuan in building and reconstructing 5,000 greenhouses, and the planting of some 666 hectares of tomatoes.

According to the plan, Tomato Theme Town will realize an annual tomato production of 200 million kilograms and 2 billion yuan in annual output value, further developing Taigu county into a major domestic tomato production cluster.

A skeletal intelligent greenhouse is already taking shape and the finished greenhouse will go into use Sept 1. Other projects presented as part of Tomato Theme Town include tomato-themed museums and hotels, the construction of which will begin this year.