1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 402 The budget is rising faster than Ronan's heartbeat.
Juliet's unusual behavior was not only evident in her enthusiasm for Ronan, but also in her rather good attitude towards Lucas after Ronan introduced her to him.

“A friend who can do business with Ronan must have something special,” Juliet praised politely.

Lucas looked at Ronan with an inquisitive gaze, as if asking:

Is this the person you were talking about?
Ronan gave him an innocent look that said, "I don't know what happened either," and then turned and followed Juliet into the dilapidated office building in front of them.
"Has it been a long time?"

Now is not the time to find out the answer; we need to get down to business.

Juliet smiled and nodded:

"I've been here for a while, and I've already gone in to say hello. Please come in quickly, Professor Fernand is very busy."

The Provence Truffle Research Center is a new academic institution jointly established by the French National Institute for Agricultural Research and the Provence Truffle Association. It aims to solve the problem of reduced wild truffle production in Provence due to cold waves. Although it has been established for less than two months, its total number of employees has exceeded 50, of which more than 90% are researchers.

The person in charge of receiving Ronan this time was the one at the research institute who had the longest experience dealing with truffles.

"Professor Fernand was formerly a professor at the Higher Agricultural College of the University of Montpellier, and is now the chief researcher at the Provence Truffle Research Center."

Juliet changed her demeanor outside the meeting room and became serious again. When introducing the two sides, she did not make any unnecessary movements or expressions and treated everyone fairly.

Both Ronan and Lucas looked at Professor Fernand with admiration in their eyes.

Montpellier is located in the Occitanie region, not in Provence, but the university is known throughout France.

The University of Montpellier's agricultural discipline ranks first in France and 12th globally. Its Higher Agricultural School, founded in 1848, boasts the largest agricultural experimental station in France, and the vast majority of France's top agricultural talent comes from here.

"Hello, Professor Fernand, thank you for your help later." Ronan greeted Professor Fernand once again.

Professor Fernand had a darker, bronzer skin than the farmers of Lourmarin, but lacked the warmth typical of Provençal people.

He nodded calmly, seemingly unwilling to engage in unimportant pleasantries.

"Hello, before we officially begin, I'd like to ask if you know anything about truffles?"

Ronan said with a smile:
"My partner and I are both truffle hunters."

Professor Fernand said without any emotional fluctuation:
“I have met many truffle hunters in Capontra, and in my opinion, this profession is just a group of people who make a living from truffles, and I don’t know anything about it.”

Lucas gave Ronan a half-smile.

See, I told you these people like to be high and mighty.

Ronan remained very polite:

"Compared to you, we certainly don't know much about truffles. Please tell us about them."

Despite Ronan's overtures, Professor Fernand showed little emotional reaction, remaining as stern as ever.
"I wouldn't dare say I understand truffles. I joined the first artificial truffle cultivation experimental station in Provence in 1978, but we still haven't succeeded."

Lucas couldn't resist reaching for the cigarettes in his pocket.

awesome!
The moment we met, it was like being hit with a bucket of cold water!
If we've never succeeded, why should we even meet or chat?
Let's call it a day?

Another staff member next to Professor Fernand quickly took over the conversation:
"Haha, Professor Fernand is setting too high a standard for himself. In fact, in the nearly 10 years since 1978, the artificial cultivation of truffles in Provence has made great progress. Last year we achieved a 5% truffle production rate. This time we will introduce technologies such as soil biochar improvement to increase the production rate to 20%. Moreover, the French National Agricultural Research Institute has established a truffle strain gene bank, which contains data on more than 200 strains and can effectively reduce the risk of pests and diseases by 60%. These are all successes."

The researcher, named Didier, will serve as Professor Fernand's assistant in this collaboration.

Didier, worried that Ronan and the others might not understand academic terminology, continued to explain:

"A 20% mycorrhizal production rate means that 20% of the tree roots form effective mycorrhizae, which can produce truffles."

Lucas's expression grew increasingly grim. The 20% figure was even lower than what the Paris Institute had said last year, when the group in Paris had convinced him to invest with a figure of 30%-40%.

"A 20% bacterial production rate is the ideal state; the actual success rate should be in the range of 14%-17%," Professor Fernand continued to undermine himself.

Professor Fernand's personality actually reassured Ronan more. Now was not the time to be complacent, though he didn't have a clear understanding of these numbers:
"How much would that be per hectare per year?"

Ronan was looking at the more pragmatic Professor Fernand, who wanted to obtain the data after the water was removed.

"If the experiment is successful, once stabilized at 25-35 kg/ha, it can be harvested for 7-10 years," Professor Fernand replied directly.

“This ratio is already quite high,” Ronan said, looking at Lucas.

At the end of last year, during the peak months for wild truffle production, the yield per hectare was about 6 or 7 kilograms.

After the cold wave, this number may be only half.

“If it fails, we’ll get nothing per hectare.” Professor Fernand poured cold water on Ronan and Lucas’s heads one after another. “This year we plan to experiment on 300 hectares of woodland. If you accept this high risk, we can continue.”

The Provence Truffle Research Center has limited staff and focuses primarily on experiments, so it cannot take care of too many experimental fields.

Ronan had the same mindset. This collaboration with Lucas was mainly for experimentation. If they found a way, they would continue to buy woodland in the future.

Juliet, in a businesslike manner, added:

“Our plan was to find 300 hectares of experimental forest in the Vaucluse department this year, but the progress is not in line with expectations. We have only found more than 170 hectares of land, just over halfway.” The artificial cultivation of truffles in Provence has been going on for 10 years, and many wealthy people have tried it, but without exception, it has failed.

Therefore, very few people were interested in this experimental field project, which is why Juliet was able to give Ronan a direct answer.

Ronan asked Juliet:

"I remember that 32% of the area in the Vaucluse department is forest. Is it really that hard to find 300 hectares of woodland?"

He heard this number while chatting with Bruno.

Juliet said with a cold expression:
"The fact that you can't find a 300-hectare experimental forest within a 97000 million-hectare forest area further confirms how challenging this experiment is."

Upon hearing this, Lucas looked at Ronan.

Should we go back and think about it again?
Having driven three hours to get here, how could Ronan so easily turn back? He asked Professor Fernand:
"I'd like to know, compared to previous experiments, what technological innovations have been made this year?"

With Ronan's current capabilities, he cannot completely overcome all the technical challenges of artificially cultivating truffles, but he wants to know what level the technology for artificially cultivating truffles in France has reached.

What if some of the knowledge in his head could help advance this problem?

Sitting in front of him were some of the most accomplished agricultural researchers in Provence; perhaps even a small "opinion" could lead to a different outcome.

Professor Fernand did not refuse Ronan's request, but he explained it very generally, because if he went into too much detail, the people opposite him would not understand:

"This time, our new technology trial has two aspects. One is soil biochar improvement technology. According to experimental data, truffles have very high requirements for soil permeability. In order to improve soil permeability, we will use biochar to increase soil porosity and promote the expansion of mycelial network."

Ronan nodded:

"Biochar can also improve soil water retention, and water is crucial for truffle cultivation. This is indeed a good method, however—"

He stroked his chin, recalling the knowledge in his mind as he continued:

"Excessive biochar can cause soil microorganisms to temporarily fix nitrogen, compete with the host tree for nitrogen sources, and inhibit early mycorrhizal development."

Didier, who was inwardly complaining that Professor Fernand was about to scare away another group of wealthy people, suddenly looked over with delight.

This rich person is different from other rich people!
He's very professional!
Professor Fernand looked at Ronan with a strange expression for a few seconds before speaking:
"We have taken this into account. The critical value is 10% by volume, and the amount added will be adjusted in a timely manner according to the soil microbial conditions."

Lucas didn't understand these technical terms, and based on his previous experience, he asked:

How often do you conduct mycelial testing?

“The sampling frequency will not exceed two months,” Didier replied seriously. “Of course, if you wish to increase the testing frequency to address potential risks, we can accept that, but the cost will increase.”

Each test and sampling is a considerable expense.

Lucas whispered to Ronan:
"The maintenance price I quoted you before was based on only two samplings per year."

Ronan nodded slightly.

To improve the success rate, the testing frequency should indeed be higher. It's worth the extra cost; it's worth the peace of mind.

Didier, aware of Lucas's past failures, kindly offered a reminder:
“Our vaccination method is different this time, so your cost calculations may have to be completely overturned.”

"Don't you use the 'mycorrhizal fragment inoculation' method?" Lucas asked unexpectedly.

Mycorrhizal fragment application is the simplest and most direct inoculation method, which involves directly transplanting the cultivated mycelium soil into the root zone of the host tree.

“That inoculation method resulted in a very low mycelial survival rate,” Professor Fernand replied. “This is our second technological innovation.”

Professor Fernand looked at Ronan, and this time he explained in great detail:
"The new planting method involves crushing mature truffles and mixing them with a 5% trehalose solution. The mixture is then injected into holes drilled 20 centimeters deep into the roots of the host tree, with 50 mL injected into each hole. This is expected to increase the mycelial survival rate by 30-40%, but the inoculation cost will be twice as high."

Ronan gasped in shock.

In just a short while, several additional costs have been incurred.

Is he still able to cover this budget?

Just as he was trembling with fear, the taciturn Juliet suddenly interjected:
"Let's not discuss the cost too much today. The goal is to align the experimental objectives and processes. If we can't confirm cooperation, talking about the budget is not very meaningful."

After saying that, she glanced meaningfully at Ronan and said, word by word:
"For the ecological health of Provence, there is always a way to solve the budget problem."

Ronan raised an eyebrow.

Juliet is acting so strange today.

Is she implying something to me?

However, since Juliet had already said that, Ronan interrupted Professor Fernand, who was still explaining the 'spore injection' cultivation method to Lucas, and cautiously said:
"Professor, I have an idea for a planting method, but I don't know if it's feasible. Would you like to hear about it?"

Since we're not considering the budget, I can speak freely.

(End of this chapter)