China - February 25, 2025 Chinese seedling nurseries scale up production for spring farming season (Voice_over) With springtime farming rolling out across China, seedling nurseries in the country are in the midst of their annual busy season. At one seedling plant in southwest China's Guizhou Province, automated machines process 20,000 pepper seedling trays per day. Staff from the factory said the automated facilities have greatly improved efficiency. (Sound_bite) Zhang Yuanji, Head of production department,seedling company: "The speed of the mechanical seedling machine is five times that of manual workers and the breeding cycle can be shortened to ten to fifteen days." (Voice_over) In east China's Zhejiang Province, a new batch of watermelon, cucumber and tomato seedlings is about to hit the market. They were cultivated in a high tech breeding base, which is equipped with digital temperature control and a hydroponic system. Some seedling traders renewed their orders this year after reading positive customer feedback. (Sound_bite) Pang Pengfei, Seedling trader: "The customer feedback for their seedlings is very good, with a survival rate above 98 percent. I made the purchase last year and came back this year." (Voice_over) And in northwest China's Gansu province, melon farmers are transplanting melon seedlings into greenhouses. They expect this batch of melons to hit the market in late April. [Restriction: No access Chinese mainland]