The 5th Field Day of the “Sino-German Crop Production and Agrotechnology Demonstration Park” (15-16 June 2019) has been highlighted by the visit of Germany’s Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Ms. Julia Klöckner, as well as high ranking members of the German and Chinese ministries of agriculture and a delegation of German agribusiness representatives. Chinese and German journalists accompanied the approximately 300 guests. From DCZ, Dr. Jürgen Ritter, Ms. Karin Tränkner and Ms. Marie Künstling took part in the event. In her opening address, Ms. Julia Klöckner emphasized the importance of the Sino-German friendship and cooperation as well as the importance of modern and sustainable agriculture. Deputy Director Wang Hongqian delivered an opening speech on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).
The “Sino-German Crop Production and Agrotechnology Demonstration Park” has been launched in August 2015 within the scope of BMEL bilateral cooperation programme and is currently in its 2nd phase. It works towards more efficient and sustainable farming techniques by means of modern agricultural machinery and adapted cultivation methods. The Chinese project partner SKIAD (Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Reclamation and Development Corporation) provide an area of about 150 hectares on the Huanghai State Farm to the project for the implementation of demonstrations. DCALDP is an ideal platform to demonstrate and discuss innovations around agriculture, policy and business. (For more details, see the DCALDP project website).
During the field visit, the visitors learned about the main work areas, achievements and results of the demonstrations and trials. This year special focus was placed on soil fertility and how professional agri-tech can prevent soil compaction by good soil preparation and post-harvest processing, for example how to solve the problem of wheat straw residues on large scale. At six trial and demo stations visitors gained insight into differences, pros and cons of a variety of machineries.
As Mr. Bunge, the moderator of the field visit, pointed out, each soil condition requires different tractors or equipment. For this reason, it is highly important for machinery-sellers to have a thorough understanding of the soil and environmental conditions at the farms of potential customers.
