Farmer proves potential of rooftop planting

A farmer helps villager Peng Qiugen harvest rice on the roof of Peng's house which had been converted into a rice field at Qilin Village of Shaoxing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov. 18, 2013. Peng several years ago transformed the roof of his house into a farmland, in which rice, watermelons and vegetables have been harvested in different seasons. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

In Chinese language, most farmers go "down" to the field to harvest crops, but one farmer from an eastern village in China goes "up" to the roof to reap rice.

Peng Qiugen, a "landless" farmer who transferred his land to a gardening company seven years ago, just harvested over 100 kg of rough rice on his 120-square-meter rooftop this week.

"My greatest wish is to save more land for China by promoting rooftop farming to more households," Peng told Xinhua.

He calculated that a roof as large as his, if used for growing vegetables, can meet the daily demands of 20 people.

In Peng's village, Qilin in east China's Zhejiang Province, most farmers have circulated their land to scale planting individuals and companies in exchange for a steady income and an opportunity to try out other jobs that would presumably bring more economic gains.

Some have become factory workers, others have started businesses. For Peng, he has tried both and more, saying, "I accept any jobs within my ability that can improve the living conditions for my family."

A wealthier material life, however, has never changed his passion for land and farming.

When he started to build his four-story house in 2006, he thought about transforming the roof into a piece of arable land.

"I applied an extra 20 percent of cement and steel to prevent leakage," Peng said, admitting that the extra 2,000-3,000 yuan (328-492 U.S. dollars) spent on construction met with opposition from his family.

But later the "thicker" roof proved its worth. Besides the bounty of crops, the special design has also turned the building into a more pleasant home.

"In summer, the indoor temperature is 5 degrees Celsius lower than in our neighbors' homes," Peng said.

This knowledgable farmer is able to grow pumpkin, loofah, radish, sweet potato and green vegetables between rice planting seasons.

He grew watermelon for the first time in 2008, and harvested a good 400 kg of the juicy orbs that summer, 30 percent higher than field output.

According to a notebook in which he recorded the weight of every melon collected, the biggest exceeded seven kg and as many as 40 melons could be picked in a single day.

Better sunlight and fewer pests are the "recipe" for the high yield and good quality of Peng's crops.

Every year, he uses the rice for wine-making, and shares the rest with relatives and friends, including those who used to call him a "fool" when he decided to develop the rooftop farm.

In 2010, his "sky rice farm" was awarded a gold medal during the World Green Roof Conference in Shanghai.

Though factory buildings continue to be erected in villages where plants used to grow, Peng's feeling toward arable land remains strong.

"Farmers are no longer like farmers any more. Without land, and never getting near plants, gradually some of them can't remember how to farm," he said.