Fresh-cut flower industry booms in Xintai

Covering an area of 583 mu (about 388,666 square meters), the Haoyu Horticultural Taishan Rose Garden in Loude town, Xintai of Tai'an city houses thousands of delicate and beautiful roses of different varieties.

"Our roses can be harvested seven or eight times, ensuring that there is a constant supply of fresh-cut flowers throughout the year," said Zhao Shanxing, chief engineer of the garden.

According to Zhao, the Haoyu Horticultural Taishan Rose Garden was created to aid the integrated development of the ecological circular economy and industrial and agricultural industries. The garden makes use of Haoyu Group's coking cooling tower surplus heat sources to build the world's advanced intelligent greenhouses.

The project also includes fresh-cut flower processing plants, cold storage section and other functional areas spanning 19,000 square meters. The garden can produce 100 million fresh-cut roses worth 168 million yuan ($23.14 million) every year after full production.

"Presently, we can supply about 60,000 fresh-cut flowers per day, and demand for our flowers exceeds the supply," said a manager of the project.

The project also offers jobs for local villagers, as well as pays them a dividend for the use of their land.

A villager works in the intelligent rose-growing greenhouse in Xintai, a county-level city in Tai'an, Shandong province. [Photo/Tai'an Daily]

A villager cuts roses at an intelligent greenhouse in Xintai. [Photo/Tai'an Daily]

A villager prepares fresh-cut roses at the Haoyu Horticultural Taishan Rose Garden. [Photo/Tai'an Daily]