BEIJING, April 18 -- Thanks to a container "vegetable factory", the troop unit of a naval observation and communications brigade under the PLA Southern Theater Command stationed on an island in the South China Sea recently ended its history of "harvesting vegetables at the mercy of weather conditions".
In the past, the supply of fresh vegetables totally relied on sea freight shipping, and the route often got interrupted whenever there was strong wind or heavy fog. Although the troops have tried a variety of methods to cultivate vegetables on the island, the result was unsatisfactory given the special climate and environment therein.
The newly-built "vegetable factory" container was thus developed to solve the problem of yielding fresh vegetables for service members stationed in highlands, islands, borders or uninhabited regions.
The "vegetable factory" container can be operated by a single person, in which a dozen kinds of vegetables can be produced with appropriate environmental conditions created by controlling light, nutrient solution, and temperature.
In view of the actual situation in the South China Sea, the specially designed "vegetable factory" container is lighter and of stronger corrosion resistance. Besides, a garbage treatment cabin is added outside the factory system aiming at the disposal of kitchen waste on islands, which serves for fermenting, decomposing and recycling organic waste such as kitchen waste, while providing organic fertilizers for vegetables or green plants.
Next, the naval observation and communications brigade will further popularize the "vegetable factory" to highlands and islands, and build more "vegetable gardens" supported by new energy technologies.