LED lighting for planting vegetables in Zhongshan Station, Antarctica

The supply of fresh vegetables has always been a problem that has plagued China's Antarctic scientific research. Especially at Zhongshan Station, the vegetables needed for the year only rely on the “Snow Dragon” from countries such as China and Australia to replenish supplies. This is not only costly, but also Limited storage time. When the Antarctic entered the long winter, the members of the scientific expedition could only rely on limited vegetables such as Chinese cabbage for winter.

Therefore, green lettuce, fresh cucumbers, and small, round and juicy tomatoes were once among the most "luxury" dreams for the Antarctic team. For this reason, during the 31st Antarctic expedition in China, as part of the 2014 National Science and Technology Support Program, the “Key Technology Research and Demonstration of Extreme Greenhouse Vegetable Production in the South Pole” project, an initial research experiment was carried out at Zhongshan Station and Changcheng Station. . Now thanks to advanced greenhouse cultivation techniques including LED plant lighting, this dream has become a reality at the Chinese Antarctic Expedition.

LED plant grow lights automatically adjust the lighting time according to the growth of vegetables

According to the 31st National Antarctic expedition team member Wang Zheng, the Vegetable Greenhouse Laboratory is a 16-square-meter room. The entire greenhouse is equipped with soilless cultivation technology. Automatic control of irrigation pumps, temperature, humidity, cultivation lights and nutrition are provided by the vegetable planting and automatic control system. Liquid and so on. For example, under the control of a computer, the LED plant growth lamp can automatically adjust the lighting duration according to the growth of the vegetables. There are rows of LED lights in the greenhouse. During the polar Antarctic period, the greenhouse uses natural light to grow the vegetables; during the polar night, the photosynthesis of the plants is realized by LED lights. The LED lights imitate the sunlight and effectively solve the problem of insufficient illumination.

In addition, the automatic irrigation system injects nutrient solution into the water tank every hour; when the room humidity is lower than 70%, the humidification system sprays water mist into the room. To promote the growth of vegetables, light music is played 24 hours a day in the vegetable greenhouse laboratory. "The treatment of vegetables is much higher than the inspection team." Wang Zheng said with a smile.

"Because the growth cycle is short, it is easy to cultivate, and the yield is large. The main vegetables cultivated at Zhongshan Station are lettuce, cabbage and cucumber," said Wang Zheng. Taking cucumber as an example, a cucumber vine can harvest one cucumber in an average of 2 days. If 20 plants are planted, 18 members will be able to eat fresh cucumber every day during the winter. In addition, peppers, okra, tomatoes, and watermelons were also planted, but the yield was too low to be successful.

Wang Zheng also said that there is an advantage to growing vegetables in the Antarctic, that is, no pests and diseases, do not need to fight pesticides. However, the "Antarctic greenhouse" needs to be heated by burning gasoline day and night to withstand extreme cold. Even so, energy consumption is still much lower than shipping. Wang Zheng said that it takes a month to grow vegetables from seeds to grow. Therefore, it is necessary to plan the phases and batches and to make vegetable replacements and rotations.

“Take four meals a day in Antarctica.” Wang Zheng said that Antarctic foods rely on foreign transport, most of them are meat, and there is a shortage of vegetables. Zhongshan Station has successfully cultivated vegetables, and many foreign scientific team members are envious. Therefore, they often come to Zhongshan Station for cooking.

According to reports, last year, the Great Wall Station of the Antarctic was built as the world's first solar greenhouse, and it successfully planted fresh vegetables relying on plant growth lights and other greenhouse cultivation techniques.

It is reported that this is the first time in the history of the Chinese Antarctic Zhongshan Station to eat fresh vegetables. “China's Antarctic research station can provide fresh vegetables to attract international attention because the Antarctic's ability to produce vegetables means that the country’s healthy survival in the Antarctic is at the forefront of the world and can significantly extend human health in Antarctica.” Professor Nanchang University, According to Yu Wanxi, visiting professor at the National Polar Research Center.