Let's look forward to the future of "cultivated land" in shallow sea.
In the shallow water area of continental shelf with water depth less than 200 meters, this is the place where sunlight can penetrate, which provides growth conditions for photosynthesis of marine benthos. Nutrients from rivers and lakes gather here, which is beneficial for all kinds of algae to settle down here and become "crops" in the water through artificial proliferation. With a little scientific management, the output can be greatly increased and become an offshore "farm" This kind of farm can implement mechanized sowing and harvesting like a farm on land. In this farm full of clear sea water, we can see the fish wandering freely in the seaweed jungle through the remote control on the water and the underwater TV. The underwater combine harvester is like a tank with a long tail, swallowing seaweed like wheat, and then transporting it to the catamaran processing ship on the surface through a long "umbilical cord"-a special pipeline. At the same time, the processing plant on board will comprehensively process the collected seaweed until it is made into human food and livestock feed rich in protein, starch, vitamins and various minerals, as well as other industrial raw materials and agricultural organic fertilizer, and then re-export it to meet the needs of our production and life.
The idea of realizing such an offshore farm is not far away. In fact, at present, many marine countries in the world are developing to this kind of marine farm. Artificial kelp farms started earlier in China. China has become the country with the highest algae and algae production in the world, and it is also a country with remarkable achievements in algae research and comprehensive utilization. Since 1987, the quality of seaweed gum exported from China has entered the advanced ranks in the world.
The offshore farm is nearby. We will have a better design for offshore deep-sea farms. This large-scale "cultivated land" on the sea can reach hundreds or even tens of millions of square kilometers, and it can be composed of small farms with multiple units, each of which is only a few square kilometers. In the middle of this big farm is a "central production platform" positioned by power. There are solar power plants, seaweed comprehensive processing plants and "farmers" residential areas on the platform. Around the platform, there are many radial giant pole frames with many nylon ropes hanging on them. The lower end of the sling is set at the water depth of15m, which is used as the "planting bed" for planting Sargasso. Seawater surge pump is supplied by wave power generation, which is used to surge deep water containing nutrients into the upper seawater for the growth of giant algae.
Such deep-sea farms can not only meet the needs of photosynthesis for algae growth, but also be free from the threat of drought and frost, and do not need to sow every year. Because all kinds of algae can be cut long and then cut like leeks. Giant algae, in particular, can be harvested three or four times a year, then harvested with a special harvester and sent to the central platform for comprehensive ground treatment.
In addition, in this special "farm", because of the flourishing growth of seawater irrigation, it is conducive to the reproduction of various microorganisms and provides a good place for a variety of fish to inhabit and breed, thus attracting a large number of fish to settle in the "farm" and form a new biological chain in a specific environment, which can not only form a new fishing ground, but also make marine fish a very considerable "sideline" in the farm, killing two birds with one stone.
Nowadays, some coastal countries are conducting in-depth experiments and research on various components of large-scale deep-sea farms. Over the years, Japan has worked hard to implement the plan of "marine pasture" (mainly used for scientific breeding of marine fish). The development of marine "farm" is the right-hand man of Japan's agricultural engineering development, and has achieved remarkable research results.
The prospect of opening up marine "cultivated land" is broad. Experts believe that due to some irresistible natural destruction factors such as storms and huge waves, the "arable" area in the ocean in the past 50 years is about 5 ~ 10 times that of the land. They are mainly distributed in three storm-free areas of the world's oceans: First, the equator is between 25 and 40 north latitude. These three areas will be ideal places for us to implement marine agricultural projects and important bases for us to obtain food and energy from the ocean.