High-sugar beets thrive in Gansu Shandan

Last week, farmers were seen operating sugar beet harvesters across the vast 10,000-mu (666.67 hectares) sugar beet plantation at the Gansu Nongken Shandan Farm in Shandan county, Zhangye, Gansu province. The air buzzed with activity as they raced to gather the ripe beets.

In recent days, over 10,000 mu of sugar beets at the Gansu Nongken Shandan Farm have reached maturity, signaling the start of the harvest season. The fields have come alive with the hum of harvesters crisscrossing the landscape. Plump, white beets roll along conveyor belts into large transport vehicles, creating mountains of produce at the field edges – a scene that epitomizes the abundance of a successful harvest.

Zhangye in Gansu province has leveraged the national sugar industry technology system to implement a "triple mutual assistance" model for sugar beet industry development. This innovative approach involves collaboration between agricultural research institutes, sugar processing enterprises, and cultivation companies. As a result, 11 new sugar beet varieties have been introduced and cultivated. Consequently, the sugar beet industry has steadily progressed towards high-quality development, characterized by scale, mechanization, standardization, eco-friendliness, and sustainability.

This year, the 10,000-mu sugar beet plantation at the Gansu Nongken Shandan Farm has achieved an impressive average yield of about 7 tons per mu, with sugar content exceeding 16 percent. The farm has established itself as a primary cultivation area for high-sugar beets in Gansu province. Notably, approximately 7 tons of sugar beets can now be processed into 1 ton of white sugar, realizing the goal of producing a ton of sugar per mu. This achievement has set in motion a virtuous cycle of increased income for beet farmers and improved efficiency for sugar enterprises.