Shandong's plans for rural revitalization

Shandong, as a large agricultural province in China, possesses beautiful landscapes and many advantages that make it the perfect province to pioneer rural modernization in China. 

In Shouguang, Shandong, a group of young people, referring to greenhouse vegetable planting as "greenhousing", cited the 7th-generation greenhouse technology as a wonder of rural modernization, with which the monitoring and operation of light, temperature and humidity, water and fertilizer irrigation and other indicators can all be completed on a phone. 

Shouguang agricultural products logistics park [Photo/WeChat account: weifangfabu]

Cui Yulu, secretary of the Party branch of Cuilingxi village in Daotian town, Shouguang, said that in recent years, new, advanced technologies have been increasingly exploited by the "second generation of greenhouse households". Not only has the cost of growing vegetables been reduced by about 20 percent, but the output has increased by 15 percent. 

Shouguang is a town of vegetables. In the 1990s, winter greenhouse cultivation technology was used to address the lack of fresh vegetables in winter in northern cities. Now, with continuous innovation, the city remains the harbinger in the vegetable industry.

Since the reform and opening up of the province and China in general, Shandong has experienced significant progress in rural modernization, with its integration of trade, industry and agriculture, and the industrialization of agriculture exerting a powerful demonstrative effect. Shandong's total agricultural output value, added value, and total exports are among the top 8 in the country.

Today, Shandong province accounts for six percent of the country's arable land and one percent of freshwater resources, and contributes eight percent of grain output, nine percent of meat production, 12 percent of fruit production, and 13 percent of vegetable production. The total agricultural exports accounts for 24 percent of that of the entire country. 

The 40 years of diligence has endowed Shandong with a rich heritage of rural revitalization. The province has proposed to take practical actions to build a Qilu model and strive for a new era for all-around rural revitalization.

Visitors looking at vegetable displays during a recent agricultural product exhibition in Weifang, Shandong province. [Photo by Zhao Yuguo/China Daily]