Wuhan professor grows fresh vegetables 245 meters underground

The once abandoned mine shaft has now been transformed into an "underground fertile field". Recently, in the abandoned mine of Daye Tonglushan Copper Mine, a large number of lettuce "harvested" in the 245-meter underground mine. This is the latest research result of the scientific research project "Key Technology Research of Plant Factory in Abandoned Mine" undertaken by Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology and Wuhan Hugong Furui Energy Technology Co., Ltd..

Wuhan professor grows fresh vegetables 245 meters underground

The project was jointly researched by five professors: Zeng Wei, Zhang Jie, Zhan Yunfeng, Lv Qinghua, and Cai Yijie from Hubei University of Technology. They performed their respective roles in optical design, electrical, electronic and automation, and industrial design. Through school-enterprise cooperation, an abandoned mine was built. Turning into an "underground plant factory" not only brings a new agricultural planting method with low cost and short cycle, but also provides new employment opportunities for miners, and also provides a new path for urban abandoned mines to transform into urban agriculture.

Abandoned mines are natural farmland

According to Professor Zeng Wei, director of the Low-Carbon Economy and Technology Research Center of Hubei University of Technology, who is in charge of the project's research and development, underground planting has many natural advantages compared with traditional above-ground field planting. From an agricultural point of view, the underground environment of Tonglushan Copper Mine is between 25°C and 28°C all year round, and the humidity is kept at 70% to 80%. The area of the abandoned mines reaches hundreds of thousands of square meters, and the multi-layer three-dimensional planting is used underground, which is equivalent to an increase of 1,000 mu of farmland. At the same time, there are excellent resources such as perfect ventilation, communication and water and electricity tracks underground.

In addition, compared with the traditional artificial planting environment, underground planting does not require extra temperature control. "Temperature control is very expensive and consumes a lot of electricity. Therefore, the natural constant temperature environment can reduce the planting cost by up to 60%." Zeng Wei said.

In the well, plants are planted in a water and fertilizer integrated machine, without the use of pesticides, relying on nutrient solution to deliver growth nutrients to the trees. Soilless cultivation of plants also avoids being invaded by soil-borne pathogens, reducing the problems of pests and diseases that often occur in field planting. Therefore, the only factors that need to be considered for underground planting are light and water sources.

"Theoretically, the spectrum required for plant growth is only one-tenth of the visible spectrum. The artificial light environment of the specific spectrum required by plants can not only produce most plants out of season, but also shorten the production by 20% to 40% cycle, and can obtain more than 10 times the production capacity of field planting." Zeng Wei introduced that in underground planting, LED discs and electronic appliances are used to change the lamp bead and chip style to change the layout of the lamp bead to form different artificial spectrums such as white light and blue light, in order to suit the rapid growth of different types of plants and provide light conditions for various types of plants.

Although mine groundwater is inevitably infected by heavy metals, the integrated water and fertilizer machine solves this problem by mechanically diverting water from the ground. It is reported that the plants produced underground have been tested by the Food Quality Supervision, Inspection and Testing Center (Wuhan) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. They have no pesticide residues, and no toxic heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic have been detected. The heavy metal content is lower than that of conventional farmland.

Three-dimensional planting provides "disease-resistant vegetables" for the market

Thanks to the three-dimensional structure of the mine, the underground planting can plant edible fungi, sprouts and other plants that require less light and release more carbon dioxide on the bottom layer. Spectral combination stereoscopic planting mode.

Due to the short planting cycle, underground planting can be market-oriented, not only considering the cultivation of high-value-added products such as high-grade vegetables, medicinal materials, and flower varieties, but also making up for the shortage of crops in the market and ensuring normal supply. It even changes the proportion of substances in plants through light induction, bringing new products to the market. Zeng Wei introduced that, for example, by changing the artificial spectrum, changing the proportion of a certain substance in plants, and planting specific vegetables for chronic basic diseases such as hypertension, diet therapy can help patients fight against chronic basic diseases.

Zhang Jie, a professor in charge of the electrical and electronic automation construction in the project, introduced that in the next step, the team will combine the automatic transplanting and harvesting device tested on the ground with the mine track to form a robot-assisted automated and data-based plant production line in abandoned mines. Improve planting and harvesting efficiency.

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