Planting asparagus on Taihu Lake in Wuxi is officially called purifying water quality.

Someone has planted vegetables in Taihu Lake! Yesterday, the reporter heard the news and rushed to the waters of the three Kingdoms cities of Meiliang Lake in Taihu Lake. There were dozens of "green" floating beds floating on the lake, and the floating beds were covered with asparagus. After many inquiries, the reporter learned that this is the Taihu Lake Fisheries Management Office of Jiangsu Province to carry out the ecological floating bed water purification project.

There are many floating beds full of asparagus on the lake.

In the waters of the three Kingdoms cities of Meiliang Lake, the floating bed planted with asparagus is like a green island. (photo by Chen Dachun)

At 10:00 yesterday, the reporter followed the staff of the Taihu Lake Fisheries Management Office of Jiangsu Province by boat to the aquatic "vegetable garden" located in the waters of the three Kingdoms cities of Meiliang Lake. "floating on the floating bed on the lake is hydroponic cabbage. As it is still in the experimental stage, there are only nearly 10 mu of water at present." Along the direction of the staff's fingers, the reporter saw a floating bed covered with lush asparagus, the highest up to half a meter high. It is understood that according to the current growth trend, a floating bed can produce one or two hundred jin of asparagus.

A 1.75-meter-long, able-bodied male staff member laboriously pulled out for nearly a minute, and was so tired and sweaty that he pulled up a handful of hollow vegetables: "you see, this dish absorbs too much nutrition here, and its roots are well developed." The reporter's close observation found that the roots of asparagus are intertwined with each other, forming a tight and solid network structure, with the longest root more than 30 cm long. The stems and leaves of these hydroponic asparagus are no different from those bought in the vegetable market.

At present, a comparative trial of three models is under way.

Since there is no experience to replicate, everything can only be explored. "these floating beds are designed and built by our scientific and technological personnel." The staff said that at present, three different planting modes such as foam float, plastic basket and net direct planting have been chosen. Through trial planting and comparison, it is planned to select a model that is most suitable for planting in Taihu Lake, such as which is more conducive to the growth of asparagus, whether it can resist typhoons and so on. The reporter noticed that the bottom of the plastic basket floating bed was placed into plastic baskets that only looked like flower baskets, and hollow vegetables were planted in baskets one by one.

"We bought these hollow vegetables from the Mashan vegetable market on June 18." The staff said that after it was planted, it was allowed to grow naturally in the open air without any fertilizers or pesticides. Unexpectedly, it had only been planted for a week, and it quickly adapted to the new growth environment and soon sprouted well-developed roots. after maturity, they also specially picked a batch of hydroponic cabbages to taste, although they grew very strong, but the taste is very crisp and tender.

The purpose of growing vegetables on the lake is to purify the water quality of Taihu Lake.

According to the staff of Taihu Lake Fisheries Management Office, the aquatic "vegetable garden" is not simply to grow asparagus, but an experimental water purification project to improve the eutrophication of Taihu Lake by means of ecological restoration.

The worker told the reporter that plant growth can absorb nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients in Taihu Lake, and the reticular structure of plant roots can absorb and settle suspended particulates. the biofilm formed by microbial reproduction in the plant root zone can improve the ability to degrade pollutants, and the plant can also release oxygen to the water body through the root system, promoting the rapid purification of pollutants. Many plants that form floating beds can secrete chemicals that control the growth of algae.

It has become a consensus in the industry to purify the water body by planting aquatic plants in Taihu Lake, but what can purify water quality and have economic value? "We also thought about it again and again, and finally decided to try to grow water cabbage with strong nitrogen and phosphorus absorption capacity." The staff told reporters that due to limited funds, the first phase only chose the waters of the three Kingdoms cities of Meiliang Lake with a high degree of eutrophication for trial planting. Subsequently, the aquaculture area of East Taihu Lake in Suzhou was planted on a small scale of 200 square meters of water.

Professionals sample and monitor once every half a month.

Planting aquatic plants can not only purify the water body, but also provide space for fish and shrimp to lay eggs. According to reports, when asparagus is planted, it is the spawning period of fish and shrimp, and you can see that fish and shrimp eggs are attached to the root system. "A strong root system can provide a place for fish and shrimp to spawn, which is conducive to fish and shrimp reproduction." The staff introduced that

How much purifying effect can planting asparagus in Taihu Lake play? We still have to rely on the data. The reporter learned that the Taihu Lake Fisheries Management Office specifically asked the Wuxi Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences to sample and monitor the waters. At present, technicians have collected samples of water quality, sediment and plankton in these two places, and will monitor the water quality of the water area every half a month, and scientifically summarize and evaluate the implementation effect of the project through data.

"it is not suitable to grow asparagus in winter, so we are also considering whether to switch to aquatic vegetables such as water celery in winter." At the end of the interview, the staff said that they will continue to explore and summarize the implementation effects of other species of aquatic plants in order to purify the ecological environment of Taihu Lake and innovate ways for fishermen to increase their income and become rich.

(evening News reporter Yuan Xiaolan)