不做專家做菜農

移民農場主劉文開，在加拿大不做專家做菜農

不做專家做菜農——加拿大華裔農場主劉文開的成功故事

新華網渥太華6月20日電

6月初記者應邀去加拿大中部農業大省曼尼托巴省采訪時,陪同記者的加拿大貿易和投資局的泰勒先生提醒說,一定要去中國移民劉文開的太陽能溫室農場看看。“劉的經曆很有意思,更重要的是,他把中國農業的先進技術帶到了加拿大。”泰勒說。“他讓很多人意識到,中國農業可能整體上相對落後,但有些方麵還是很值得我們學習的,中加兩國農業交流的空間很大。”

劉文開的農場位於溫尼伯市郊埃拉鎮,記者去采訪當天正趕上一名來自卡爾加裏的農民來買他的溫室大棚設備。“設備都是從中國進的,我的技術簡單實用,隻要對買主稍做培訓,他們回去便可組裝使用了。”皮膚被曬得黝黑的劉文開一邊說,一邊搓去手指上沾滿的黑土。

出身農家的劉文開1980年畢業於中國江西農大,後在江西農科院工作。1993年赴美國北達科他州大學做訪問學者,並獲遺傳學育種碩士學位。1996年他移民加拿大,進入曼尼托巴省農業廳下屬的農作物多樣化試驗推廣站,出任中國蔬菜研究項目經理。一年後,他被調往加聯邦農業部在曼尼托巴省的研究中心工作。

溫尼伯是加拿大第八大城市,也是世界上最冷的大城市之一,冬天平均溫度低於零下10攝氏度,夜晚甚至可以降到零下50攝氏度。“但我發現溫尼伯全年陽光非常充足,於是就有了把中國溫室大棚技術引進來的想法。我深信,去種菜更能發揮我的所學,也有更好的回報。”

1998 年,劉文開辭去工作,投資4萬多加元買下15英畝地,成立了“文凱東方蔬菜公司”。劉文開種菜采用中國農民深耕細作的方法,當地農民隻種一季,他至少種三季,像蘿卜等可以種四五季,大大增加了產量。他還采用中國的地膜覆蓋技術,使菜地不長雜草並保持水分,從而省去頻繁打藥、施肥、澆水等環節。這樣不僅節省成本,生產出的蔬菜也是純正的綠色蔬菜。

然而,由於當地人對中國蔬菜缺乏認識,他第一年種出的菜無人問津,“賠得一塌糊塗”。第二年,劉文開直接跑到卡爾加裏一家連鎖超市總部做工作,成功說服它接受自己的產品。從此,劉文開的蔬菜知名度越來越大。如今他的菜不僅在溫尼伯市7家連鎖超市有售,還銷到附近省份和美國一些州。在自由市場上,顧客往往排成兩個30米長的隊伍購買,最忙的時候5個收銀員都忙不過來。

記者走進一座太陽能大棚,隻見裏麵西紅柿碩果累累。劉文開的大棚設備產自中國遼寧,大棚後牆夾板裏儲存有15厘米厚的沙子,白天吸收太陽能,晚間散熱,大棚頂部到晚間再蓋上厚毯子。雖構造簡單,保溫效果卻相當好。去年當地最低氣溫零下45度,大棚裏溫度卻一直保持在零度以上。“我就靠一台木柴爐,就保證了全年蔬菜茁壯成長。而當地農民的傳統大棚使用天然氣取暖,光是取暖費就耗去1萬加元。”

節能高效的中國大棚技術引起了曼省政府和當地農民的濃厚興趣。前來購買大棚設備的農民已擴展到艾伯塔省、薩斯喀徹溫省以及美國北達科他州。省農業部門官員也已打算在該省北部推廣使用這種大棚。劉文開也因此成了當地的新聞人物,包括加拿大廣播公司等30多家媒體都對他做了專訪。

目前,劉文開雇有3名從中國來的全職工人,夏季忙時另招15個零工幫忙。他打算從中國多招一些工人過來,將大棚從目前的3個增加到20多個,同時增加露天菜地麵積,滿足更多客戶需要。

劉文開還有一個更宏大的計劃,他要在溫尼伯建一個太陽能生態園,在裏麵栽種花草樹木,並建設商店、餐館、娛樂中心等,建設成大型商貿娛樂中心,生態園規模在3到4英畝。“一旦動工,一年多就可以建好。”劉文開的眼神裏充滿了對未來的信心。

http://www.winnipegchinese.com/html/72/n-5972.html

30 Below Yet Able To Grow!

Not too long ago I heard (via the aquaponics list I belong to) about a very intriguing greenhouse design created by a farmer in Manitoba for the purpose of growing Chinese vegetables year round.

Apparently, even with winter temps commonly dropping below -30 C (-22 F), the montly bill for three greenhouses was an average of only $140 CAD!

So what is the secret?

Passive solar heating coupled with a specialized thermal insulation blanket (lowered in the evenings).

Here is some exerpts from a very interesting article describing the greenhouse:

The weather outside may be frightful, but inside the greenhouses of Wenkai Oriental Vegetables in Elie, Man., even on a January afternoon with a brisk wind tearing across the prairie, it’s a balmy 27 C.

With the bright sun coming through the single layer of six-millimetre-thick plastic that covers the structure’s southern exposure and tiny transplanted Chinese cabbage seedlings poking up in neat rows in the damp, rich black soil, it feels more like a beautiful morning in June.

Unlike most greenhouses, which are heavily dependent on expensive supplementary heat, mainly natural gas, Wenkai Liu’s operation runs on pennies a day.

“Even when it’s -30 C, we don’t have to use any heat to keep it warm,” said Liu. “Our design offers energy savings of about 95 percent.”

The three 100 foot by 23 foot greenhouses, which were built using a design that is common in China, store heat from the sun in a 15 centimetre thick, two metre high stud frame wall filled with dry sand, and covered on the inside with aluminum sheeting that has been painted black. The outside has a layer of fiberglass insulation covered with plywood.

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Liu, who has lived near Elie with his wife and two young children since 1996, built the greenhouses two years ago with the help of a $20,000 research grant from Manitoba’s agriculture ministry, and technical assistance from Shenyang University in northeastern China.

“I brought the technology from China to show people how to operate a greenhouse in winter and save energy,” said Liu, 50, who was born in China.

Before that, he got a master’s degree in agriculture from North Dakota State University and worked in Venezuela for two years as an expert adviser. He also grows Chinese vegetables outdoors on his 10 acre farm during the summer, which he sells at fresh markets and through a contract agreement with Superstore.

Be sure to check out the full article: System heats greenhouse on pennies a day

For those of you who are scientifically-inclined, I also highly recommend you check out this research article (PDF) describing the performance of one of these greenhouses: Winter performance of a solar energy greenhouse in southern Manitoba

In case you are interested, Liu apparently will sell you the parts (and perhaps the plans?) to build you own for $10,000 (CAD $$) or so!

Like Spin Farming, this is very cool indeed, and makes me truly realize what could be possible here in southern Ontario!

http://www.ecosherpa.com/category/green-energy/

Going green all year long

Greenhouse draws broad support

By Sam Thompson Oct. 25, 2007

Two experimental solar-powered greenhouse projects in Elie and St. Francois Xavier are getting a hand with their year-round operations thanks to more than $30,000 in funding as part of a research project.

The funding, part of a larger, $100,000 grant through the Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (ARDI), was announced in March and will be used to improve heating methods to keep things on the plus side year-round, despite outdoor temperatures hitting -30 C or colder.

It’s one further step to creating ideal growing conditions for Lori-Ann and Rene Regnier of SFX and Wenkai Liu of Elie, who have been working with ARDI, Manitoba Hydro and Dr. Qiang Zhang of the U of M’s Biosystems Engineering department for the past few years. According to Zhang, the results of research have been positive so far...with only a few setbacks.

“In principle, (a solar greenhouse) is commercially feasible,” said Zhang.

“The problems we’ve had are related to the thermal blanket outside having technical difficulties, which is why we’ve tried the new argon idea.”

The SFX greenhouse has experimented with argon gas as well as air-bubble plastics as heating alternatives. During the second phase of the greenhouse project, in 2005-06, a wet spring and freezing temperatures prevented the thermal blanket from unrolling properly, which resulted in plant loss.

Despite the setbacks, however, the greenhouse owners say they’re in it for the long haul.

“When people say ‘how long are you going to do this? You’re starting at the wrong age,’ I always say I’m gonna do it until it works,” said Lori-Ann Regnier.

“I do intend to (grow) year-round. We supply a number of organic food stores, and there are restaurants who will buy our produce in the winter.”

The project’s backers aren’t about to give up, either. ARDI chair David Gislason said he sees the progress that has been made so far – the Regniers are almost ready for full production, and Liu already produces year round – as positive indicators.

“The greenhouse business, especially in this part of the world, is a very seasonal thing, mainly because of the cost of heating,” said Gislason.

“When we saw the first (Elie) greenhouse growing tomatoes in January, we knew this could work.”

Gislason said in addition to being more environmentally friendly due to the use of solar energy, these greenhouses can provide local residents with organic, locally-grown produce 12 months of the year – thus saving the costs, energy consumption and potential problems that come with importing produce from warmer climates.

“We definitely want to see more of these,” he said.

Manitoba Hydro’s involvement with the project stems from an interest in energy preservation, and agricultural engineer Ray Boris said Hydro, which has provided a substantial amount of funding, has been working with Zhang on this project for more than five years.

Members of the public can tour the original site, Liu’s Wenkai Oriental Vegetables in Elie on Saturday, March 31 from 1 to 3 p.m. More information is available by contacting Rhea Yates, ARDI communications, at 896-6926.