Plump sweet cherries hang on trees in greenhouses in the Taizhou Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Park. [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

Sweet cherries, typically a fruit thriving in late spring and early summer, have ripened during the peak of summer this year in Taizhou, Zhejiang province.

Despite outdoor temperatures nearing 40 C, the climate-controlled greenhouses of the Taizhou Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Park in the Taizhou Bay New Area maintain a pleasant 24 C. Adorning the cherry trees are clusters of luscious red sweet cherries, resembling gleaming rubies.

"The sweet cherry fruit requires a temperature of around 24-25 C to ripen," explained Dong Jun, a researcher at the horticulture institute of the Taizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences. This is achieved through specialized refrigeration units and insulating materials like rubber-plastic cotton to regulate sunlight exposure within the greenhouses.

After years of research on the characteristics of sweet cherry growth, the Taizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences has combined environmental control technologies and AI algorithms to develop an efficient off-season cultivation system. By adjusting environmental temperatures during various growth stages, they can control the fruit's maturation period.

Hong Li, director of the horticulture institute, highlighted the impact of their technology, transitioning sweet cherries from a once-a-year harvest to an eight-month cycle. Previously yielding 40,000-50,000 yuan per mu (0.07 hectares) in-season, the new techniques now promise returns of up to 200,000 yuan ($27,869.29), said Hong.

This innovation allows for the harvest of fresh sweet cherries in hot summer, filling a market gap and attracting fruit growers keen on learning from Taizhou's pioneering success.