A Study On The Benefits Of Adoption Of Vegetable Safety Technologies

Shanghai is an international metropolis with a population of more than 20 million. The production and supply of vegetables is very important to the development of Shanghai. The government of Shanghai has made great efforts to ensure the supply and quality of vegetables. In 1985, the former president Jiang Zemin conducted a survey on the problem of vegetable supply in suburban of Shanghai. In 1993, the Shanghai government implemented a strategy of shifting the vegetable production bases from near-suburban to far-suburban. In 2001, the Shanghai government made a set of standards on the safety, hygiene, and quality of vegetables, and established quality certification system for agri-products. Currently,500 thousand Mu vegetables are planted in the suburban of Shanghai; the annual vegetable production is more than 5 million tons, which accounts for 55% of the consumption amount of vegetable in Shanghai. Recently, the Shanghai Vegetable Office and Vegetable Technology Extension Center have been dedicating to the extension of vegetable safety technologies, and have achieved some success.Lettuce is a healthy vegetable, which has very important role in peoples’health. Jinshan district, one of the origins of the commercial production base of lettuce, is the biggest lettuce producer in the suburban of Shanghai. Now, both planting area and production of lettuce of Jinshan district account for 75% of those of suburban of Shanghai. The market share reaches 70%. To meet the public’s growing demand for the quality of lettuce, the Vegetable Office and Vegetable Technology Extension Center in Jinshan have taken many safety measures to ensure the safety and improve the quality of lettuce.The study surveyed lettuce farms and individual farmer households that had adopted safety production technologies by face to face; analyzed the economical, social, and ecological benefits of the adoption; figured out the main factors that restrict the adoption and extension of lettuce safety production technologies; based on the analysis, the paper proposed suggestions on how to promote the adoption and extension of lettuce safety production technologies, and to promote the industrialization and standardization of vegetable production in Jinshan.