Zhangma early-ripening rice is on the boil
It's harvest time in Shanghai's suburban Qingpu District for its early-ripening rice.
Residents now can enjoy freshly ripened "Zhangma Rice" with the first batch on sale September 23.
Zhangma Rice is certificated as a national A-level green food, which means it is grown and produced under strict and green measures.
To retain the best taste of the rice, it is milled and sold as soon as it is harvested. The label on the outer box reminds consumers to finish it within three months – its best taste period.
Electronic and mechanized tools are local farmers' best assistants when welcoming the harvest season.
In the Shanghai Maodang Rice Professional Cooperative in Zhangma Village, farmers use drones to spray pesticides on their rice fields.
The early-ripening rice is ready to be harvested.
"This year's scorching weather added some difficulties to rice growing," said Zhu Huigen, Party secretary of Zhangma Village who is also the head of the cooperative.
"But we have taken timely countermeasures, such as increasing the frequency of irrigation, making good use of herbicides and using physical control as scientifically as we can. It is expected to reach the yield target."
Shanghai had seven extremely hot days (with highs over 40 degrees Celsius) this summer, the most in one summer since the city's meteorological system was established in 1873.
This year, the planting area for early-ripening rice is 80 mu in Zhangma Village, and the yield per mu is expected to reach 450 kilograms.
