Above the mage!

Chapter 295 Northwest Barley No. 1

This time, Gaode was somewhat disappointed with the additional effect of [Tidal Net+] after adding points to Fengling Yueying.

[Tidal Net] is a control spell that is very effective in temporarily restricting the enemy's actions in battle.

At the same time, it is also an excellent spell for hunting animals for the Snowfield Guardians, after all, they are good at taming animals.

Taming animals: The first step is to catch the animals. Only after catching them can you tame and tame them.

Although [Tidal Net] can only be used on creatures of large size or smaller, it is sufficient in most cases.

After all, creatures that can be called giant or larger are rare on the snowfield.

And although the strength of a creature is not necessarily proportional to its size, in general, a large creature will not be too weak.

From this perspective, giant creatures are at least at the second level or above in strength. Even if a first-level spell can be cast on it, it probably won't have any effect.

So from this perspective, the enhancement of [Tidal Net+] seems somewhat useless.

However, when the origin is easy to obtain and sufficient, Gaode's mentality is very good.

Better than nothing.

Castella, volcanic land.

In front of a neatly arranged golden wheat field, all the core figures of the Zhenbing tribe gathered here.

Including the King of the Zhenbing Tribe Gaode, the War Mother Sunaifa, the Phoenix Agriculture Minister Flora, the Deputy Minister Grant, and the other three Fourth Ring Elders, not one was left out.

Because today will be the first attempt of the Ministry of Agriculture to breed hybrid barley.

For the current Zhenbing Tribe, and even the North, this could be an experiment that could change the world.

As long as you know the significance behind this experiment, there is no reason not to come and see it with your own eyes.

The golden wheat in the wheat fields in front of them is in its flowering period - the first step in hybridization is to adjust the flowering period so that the flowering periods of the male plant and the female plant meet for hybridization.

Under normal circumstances, it is generally necessary to adopt methods such as light control, staged sowing, and temperature management for adjustment.

At the same time, in order to avoid contamination by foreign pollen, the selected mother plants need to be physically isolated and the ears that are about to bloom need to be covered.

But in Phoenix, it was not so troublesome: Sunaifa took action personally and used the "art of nature" to stimulate the growth of this small piece of golden wheat, which reached a flowering period suitable for hybridization, directly skipping the long growth preparation period.

It was just the time when the golden wheat ears emerged, the stem under the ear was about two centimeters exposed from the leaf sheath, the anthers were green, and the anthers and ovary were not yet fully mature.

"After adjusting the flowering period, the next step is to select the ears. We need to select main stem ears or large tillering ears that are well-developed, strong, and free of pests and diseases as the mother plants." Gao De instructed, while Deputy Minister of Agriculture Grant was responsible for recording, and the apprentices of the Ministry of Agriculture were responsible for checking the selected ears.

To be honest, this step does not need to be so troublesome as far as the experiment is concerned, because with Flora's ability, she can select high-quality mother plants in one go.

But Gaode understood that although he could rely on Flora in the early stages, he could not always rely on Flora's abilities.

It is necessary to ensure that in the absence of Flora, the Ministry of Agriculture has the ability to independently carry out hybrid breeding, so it is necessary to follow the standards from the beginning, and form records and specifications for reference by future generations.

"After selecting the ears, we need to sort them."

"The so-called whole ear means removing the late-developing spikelets at the top and base of the ear, and retaining the best-developed and strongest spikelets in the middle of the ear."

Under Gao De's command, the apprentices were already operating carefully.

In fact, the whole process does not require a particularly high level of precision, but the attention from so many bigwigs in the tribe still makes the apprentices who are operating it very nervous.

Besides, it was the first time to do this kind of work, so everyone was very slow.

But at least it was completed smoothly.

The apprentices who had been busy for a long time breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the non-existent sweat from their foreheads, looked up at Gao De, and waited for the next instruction.

"After the whole ear is tasseled, the stamens in each spikelet should be removed immediately. Be careful not to damage the pistil."

As for how to distinguish stamens from pistils, these apprentices had already been taught before.

This step is much more delicate than the whole ear.

But after finishing the ears of corn operation, the apprentices' nervousness was relieved a lot and they felt a little more relaxed.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of the experiment, Gao De activated the spell model and cast [Divine Guidance +] on each of the apprentices.

With the help of [Divine Guidance +], the apprentices immediately got into the state, took out special tools and started working.

Gaode silently opened the third-level Mandela Magic Eye and observed with his farsightedness and magnification abilities.

Even with the help of [Divine Guidance +], the whole process was not smooth sailing, and it was inevitable that apprentices would damage the pistil due to shaking hands.

However, this was all predictable, and when the apprentices saw that their operational mistakes did not cause Gao De to blame them, they finally relaxed.

After more than half an hour of hard work, the detasseling was finally completed.

Godd waved his hand, and Grant, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture who was in charge of observing and recording the whole process, immediately understood and took out a dozen small bottles of ice crystals.

It contains fresh and ripe pollen collected from cold-resistant wheat plants.

"Generally, pollination is carried out on the second or third day after the female barley is castrated. The main thing is to observe when the stigma of the pistil matures. The sign of maturity is that it is feather-like, forked, shiny, and secretes mucus. The pollination success rate is highest at this time," Gao De continued.

To be honest, he majored in mathematics rather than agronomy in his previous life, so he only had a general idea of ​​the hybridization process.

The reason why I can talk about so many details and such specific operations now is because of the experience I have summarized under Flora's guidance when cultivating cold-resistant wheat during this period.

Logically speaking, the next step of pollination would have to wait for a day or two.

But that was under normal circumstances. Now it’s an experimental process, so of course we need to be quick.

So Sunaifah took action again, using the power of nature to accelerate the growth of all the castrated female barley plants until the stigmas of the pistils matured.

After the induction was completed, the apprentices came forward one by one, took the ice crystal bottle from Grant, used a brush to dip the pollen in the bottle and gently applied it on the stigma of the mother barley, ensuring that every bit of pollen was evenly distributed.

Of course, this is a small experiment, so a higher level of precision is required.

If it is a larger-scale hybridization experiment, artificial pollination is generally carried out directly by broadcasting.

As for the matter of pollination, the apprentices had already experienced it before when they were breeding cold-resistant wheat seeds. They were already very familiar with it and did not need any special instructions.

To ensure successful pollination, these apprentices who have worked in the Jinhui wheat fields for many years usually have to pollinate multiple times.

Even though Flora could tell at a glance whether the pollination was successful, this experiment was not only for the successful breeding of the first generation of hybrid barley, but also for the establishment of standards and specifications, so Gaode would rather waste more time.

"After pollination is complete, the mother plant should continue to be isolated until the seeds mature. At the same time, the growth after pollination should be closely monitored and any abnormalities should be recorded."

Having said that, the actual operation was still done by Sunaifa, who ripened all the successfully pollinated golden wheat mother plants.

The golden wheat fields that were in bloom not long ago, under the influence of "nature's magic", all turned golden, and were covered with wheat grains, hanging heavily.

"Generally at this stage, the wheat kernels can be collected as first-generation seeds."

Gao De said slowly that the next steps were actually very simple, and even if he was not a professional, he could figure out how to do it.

"The purpose of hybridization is to cultivate seeds that have both the cold resistance of cold-tolerant wheat and the high yield and cold-resistant shape of golden wheat. So after harvesting the seeds, we have to sow these first-generation seeds on the snowfield for screening."

"Those that can sprout and grow naturally on the snowfield have inherited the cold-resistance of the father." "The next step is to observe their yield and whether the harvested wheat grains have the ability to repel the cold, so as to determine whether they have inherited the excellent traits of the mother, Golden Brilliant Wheat, and select individuals with ideal traits."

"For now, let's skip this step and let Lady Flora do the screening," Goder said.

"Leave it to Lady Flora!" Flora held her head high.

Flora's ability allows her to know the properties of these first-generation seeds simply by touching them without having to plant them - this is where supernatural powers are superior to technology. Sometimes, supernatural powers are indeed a bit "unreasonable".

The apprentices from the Ministry of Agriculture immediately got busy, harvesting the wheat grains from this golden wheat field.

This process allows for more lavishness, so they no longer stick to the traditional manual harvesting method and begin to cast spells.

Magic power surged, and the ice blade swept across. Wherever it passed, fields of barley fell down, but no ear of wheat was damaged. The wizard rubbed the wheat with his hands, and the grains fell off.

Gao De looked at this scene, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, but no one knew what he was thinking in his heart.

After all the wheat grains are collected, Flora is responsible for the screening process.

Looking at the barley seeds that were about to pile up into a small mountain, Flora frowned unconsciously.

Although she could tell the properties of the seeds just by touching them, the problem was that there were too many barley seeds in front of her.
Flora raised her head and stared at Gode without saying anything.

But Gaode understood everything.

"Lady Flora, do you still remember what a minister is?"

"He's the boss, everyone in the department has to listen to the minister!"

"Then do you remember what the Ministry of Agriculture is?" Gao De looked down at the little man, and the little man looked up at Gao De.

"It's the department responsible for everyone's meals. It's Phoenix's heaven!"

"Lady Flora has a good memory. She is indeed wise."

"You have wisdom!"

"So what does the Minister of Agriculture do?"

"Cultivate high-quality barley seeds so that all the people of Phoenix can eat barley!" Flora answered quickly.

"Yes, although Lady Flora is now the Minister of Agriculture, and this job is what Lady Flora is supposed to do, it is still very hard for Lady Flora to check so many barley seeds, so I still have to say something to Lady Flora."

Goder looked at Flora, whose eyes were clear and pure.

Gao De suppressed the "guilt" in his heart, clasped his fists and saluted solemnly, saying: "Thank you for your hard work, Lady Flora!"

The little man's expression changed a little, but he was still a little confused, and always felt that something was a little strange.

But before she could figure it out.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Flora!" Sunaifah, who had been watching for a long time, responded at the right time and saluted to Flora in the same way as God did.

Gao De glanced at Sunaifa in surprise, but the latter looked straight ahead, remaining "cool", as if what he was doing was just the most normal thing.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Flora!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Flora!"

The others all reacted as well and saluted Flora.

"It's not hard!" Surrounded by so many people, Lady Flora had no idea what she was thinking. She looked up and said, "This is Lady Flora's duty!"

"Lady Flora is such a responsible minister!" said Godard.

"Of course!"

"Multiple generations of selection will be carried out later, starting with the second-generation seeds and gradually implementing the selection process. Individual plants with outstanding performance will be selected and regional trials will be carried out in multiple locations to evaluate their stability and adaptability."

God said sincerely: "This process will take a lot of time. If Lady Flora can directly screen the seeds, it will save a lot of effort."

"Of course, I know that and I don't need to tell you. As the Minister of Agriculture, Lady Flora will naturally take the initiative."

"There's no need for the mage to tell me, Lady Flora will take action on her own!"

"Lady Flora not only has a wise heart, but also a sense of responsibility~"

"Yes!"

"There will be so many barley seeds for Lady Flora to sort through in the future. Will Lady Flora find it tiring?"

"will not!"

After answering her wizard's question firmly, Flora flapped her little wings without hesitation, came to the "Barley Mountain", stretched out her little hand, and picked up a grain of wheat that looked like a fruit to her.

The next moment, she made a judgment:

“This one is fine.”

"This one won't work."

"This one won't work."

“This one is fine.”

"."

Flora's clear voice continued to echo in the golden wheat fields, and beside her were the apprentices who followed her judgment to classify the seeds.

This busy work took half a day.

Finally, the number of seeds that have the three traits of cold resistance, high yield and cold resistance accounts for 80% of the total number of barley seeds.

Generally speaking, first-generation seeds will show high consistency and excellent growth potential.

Because they are crossed from carefully selected parents, they usually show hybrid vigor, so nearly all of the seedlings should express the desired trait.

But in the end, the proportion of ideal traits was only 80%. According to science, it is highly likely that cold resistance is a trait controlled by multiple genes.

But it is not a big problem. We can continue screening in the second and subsequent generations until the proportion of seeds with ideal traits is close to 100%.

"Is this all right?" Grant watched Flora pick out the seeds and couldn't help asking, "They look similar to the golden wheat seeds, right?"

These barley seeds in front of us, just looking at them with the naked eye, don’t seem to have anything special about them?
Moreover, by doing this, can we cultivate barley that has the characteristics of both golden wheat and cold-resistant wheat?
He certainly didn't doubt God and Flora, he just felt it was too incredible and beyond his comprehension.

Godard smiled.

He knew that Grant's doubts were also the doubts of everyone else present.

"It just looks similar, but it's no longer Golden Wheat. It's a new type of wheat that has never been seen before." Gao De thought about it and gave the new wheat a name on the spot: "Let's call it Northwest Barley No. 1."

"Next, we will take Northwest Barley No. 1 to the already reclaimed farm for trial planting."

(End of this chapter)