Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1697 Take Action Now

"My original intention was to let Renzhong cry about being poor and put some pressure on the experts. Even if the cherry base doesn't stay here, at least we can keep the Moroccan pomegranates." After the experts left, Zhou Zhi reflected deeply in the conference room: "I really didn't expect Grandma Liu to be so straightforward and directly leave the cherry base here."

“Ahem…” Old Chi Ri was very respectful to the experts and reminded Zhou Zhi: “Professor Liu said that’s called American cherry. The one from abroad is called Brooks, and the one hybridized in China is called Red Lantern No. 1…”

"The old man remembers it quite clearly..." Zhou Zhi said, "But this is not the point of our discussion now. The point is that cherries have a high requirement for fertilizer, just like the piglets in Jiukou Township. Cherries are good, but we also have to consider whether we can afford to raise them."

"The state will definitely consider this, right?" Wu Renzhong was also unsure: "If it really becomes a national project, then it won't be our turn to take care of it, right?"

"It's not a big problem for the state to get some chemical fertilizers, but farm compost is probably a problem," Zhou Zhi said. "But Professor Liu said that farm compost is more important for cherry planting. A tree needs about 40 kilograms of compost a year. In addition to being used as fertilizer, it can also be used to adjust the pH of the soil to prevent compaction."

"Another very important point is to transform the soil structure here and increase organic matter," Wu Renzhong added.

"Elbow, how did you solve the problem in your hometown?" Old Chi Ri now knew that Zhou Zhi was quite familiar with farming, so he asked.

"There is absolutely no comparison." Zhou Zhi was a little amused: "The fields in our area have been left fallow for a year, and the grass has grown to half a person's height, so dense that you can't even put your feet in."

"If only we could not use up all the black oats we planted, and could turn half of them into the ground..." Wu Renzhong sighed.

"Huh?" Zhou Zhi suddenly thought of a question and slapped his forehead: "The Autonomous Prefecture is an important cattle and sheep producing area in Shu!"

"What's wrong with the origin of cattle and sheep?" Wu Renzhong didn't react.

"Since this is a cattle and sheep producing area, the State Academy of Agricultural Sciences must have systematically collected and studied the local forage grasses. It's possible that many large grain-producing counties have already been promoting forage grasses that can be used as both forage and fertilizer. Let's ask the state to give us some advice!"

Wu Renzhong was immediately furious: "I just said that I would rely on the state, and you said the state was unreliable. Now you've changed your tune?!"

"Is that what you meant just now... Never mind, let's just ask first. If it's true, we don't need to waste our brains on it."

Now the telephone line has been connected. People from the State Academy of Agricultural Sciences came during the preliminary feasibility survey of the pomegranate base. The "inspection fee" of half a year's salary was used to build up all the connections. A phone call was made and the answer came back quickly.

"Tiaozi, what is that?" Zhou Zhi didn't know what the feedback from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences that Wu Renzhong was talking about was: "Is it the leaf sweet potato, or the foot-shaped sweet potato? We have a kind of leaf yam called the foot-shaped sweet potato, and some people call that thing tiaozi."

"No, our sweet potato is wild pea." Lao Chi Ri corrected.

"Hey! There is a magpie's nest in Fang, and there is a magpie in Qiong!" Zhou Zhi understood it immediately.

Wild pea is a frequently appearing character in the Book of Songs, and has several names. For example, when it is still tender in spring, it is called "Wei". Boyi and Shuqi, who were ashamed to eat Zhou millet, ate this thing to satisfy their hunger and eventually starved to death on Mount Shouyang.

In addition, in the poem Chen Feng, wild peas are called "苕". Zhou Zhi knew that this name was used by the Shu people until the Song Dynasty. Su Dongpo said that in order to commemorate Chao Gu, he called peas "chaocai". The pronunciation of "苕巢" is similar to that of "苕巢". Zhou Zhi did not know until today that "苕", the ancient name of wild peas, has been preserved in Liangshan Prefecture.

"What's with that expression on Elbow's face?" Tu Liangzhi couldn't help but laugh when he saw Zhou Zhi's overjoyed look.

"I've learned more," Zhou Zhi said with a smile, "This word was originally used thousands of years ago. I always thought it had been out of use for at least a few hundred years, but I didn't expect it to still be preserved here."

"That's how elbows are." Old Chi Ri praised, "I'm very particular about this."

After learning more about it, Zhou Zhi realized that this kind of grass in the autonomous prefecture is a perennial twining herb belonging to the Leguminosae family and the genus Vicia. It grows in high mountain shrubs, stream banks and valleys at an altitude of more than 1,000 meters. It is a unique species in northern Yunnan and southern Sichuan.

After the autonomous prefecture hybridized it with a high-quality forage grass of the same species in the Jiangnan region called "Jiangtong Tiaozi", it obtained an excellent forage grass that is adapted to local growth, resistant to diseases and frost, drought-resistant but not water-resistant, has extremely low soil requirements, but has a relatively high yield.

This kind of forage grass can absorb nitrogen from the air and transfer it to the soil, thus replenishing nitrogen to the soil. It is also an excellent forage grass with a very high protein content. It can be used as feed for livestock and as green manure, which can be turned into green manure under the soil and fermented into green manure for farmers.

The only drawback is that this forage grass is slightly toxic during the flowering and fruiting periods, and livestock will have toxic reactions if they consume too much.

People from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences said the solution is very simple, which is to harvest the sweet potatoes in time, before they bloom, and then store them in special cellars or turn them into hay, which can be used as winter food for livestock.

The remaining stumps are allowed to grow a second time in the field, bloom and bear fruit, and finally turned into the ground as green manure.

The autonomous region wants to promote this kind of forage grass for another very important function - to maintain water and soil.

This function is also very much needed in Lianhe Township. Although the yield of sweet potato is not as high as that of ryegrass, its root system is much more developed than that of ryegrass, and it is better for soil and water conservation.

The potatoes grown by the Yi people must be rotated, and after the corn is harvested, the hillsides are left barren, and this period becomes a "land fallow period."

There are two ways to allow the land to survive the fallow period. One is called tillage and fallow, which involves continuously tilling the land to turn the weeds on the fallow land into the ground to prevent the weeds from growing too vigorously, absorbing nutrients from the land and affecting next year's harvest.

Another new and very practical method is green manure fallow, which involves sowing green manure crops during the fallow period. When the green manure crops grow to a certain stage, tillage measures are adopted to bury the green manure plants in the tillage layer of the soil to increase soil organic matter, store precipitation, and improve soil fertility. This is green manure fallow.

This was originally an agricultural technology used in the northern region to solve the problem of "summer stubble land" fallow, and it has been tried in some areas for many years. However, in the land of abundance in Sichuan, this technology is basically not used, so it is not taken seriously. It was not until recently that the autonomous prefecture felt that it could be used to solve the problems of soil improvement and soil and water conservation in fallow land in mountainous and barren areas.

I learned that before the rainy season comes, it is a good time to plant this kind of plants. After the first rain, the seedlings will emerge and soon become lush and green.

We can't wait any longer, we have to act immediately because the rainy season is about to arrive.