Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

Wu Jiang sent someone to arrange accommodations for Fang Wei and the others at the county guesthouse, and then treated them to a meal before they went to bed early.

The next day.

Wu Jiang personally accompanied Fang Wei and others on an inspection tour in the county.

Fang Wei discovered that although the natural conditions in Xiachu County were not very good, there were still water sources. In addition to a small river flowing through the county, groundwater resources were also relatively abundant, so agricultural irrigation was not a problem.

The main problem in the county is severe soil salinization, which seriously affects agricultural and livestock production.

"Secretary Wu, isn't the groundwater here all saltwater?"

Before we knew it, it was noon, and Wujiang arranged for everyone to have a local specialty meal in the town.

Wang Muqi thought the roasted mutton here was delicious, and the mutton soup was also very flavorful.

After he had eaten and drunk his fill, he asked Wu Jiang a very serious question.

"No way! Salinization only occurs on the surface; it can't possibly penetrate that deep underground. You're overthinking it."

Wu Jiang smiled and explained that if things reached the point the other party described, he wouldn't need to think about developing agriculture anymore.

Wang Muqi suddenly realized that he was not familiar with this kind of knowledge at all.

Fang Wei remained silent, pondering what he had seen and heard over the past half-day. He needed to choose a saline-alkali land as his base, but it couldn't be too remote; it had to be convenient for daily life.

"Secretary Wu, let's visit a few more places this afternoon."

Fang Wei felt that the area wasn't entirely without merit; at least the water resources weren't a problem.

The biggest problem in Northwest China is water scarcity, which is secondary to soil salinization. Without water, it is truly a desert.

Over the next few days, Fang Wei and his team worked tirelessly, traversing almost every township in Xiachu County. Finally, he chose a saline-alkali land not far from the town and signed a contract with the county government. Wu Jiang agreed to immediately begin construction of water conservancy facilities and ancillary infrastructure.

Needless to say, getting electricity, water, and telephone service will be a breeze.

The county's efficiency is very high; it wouldn't be good if it weren't. In less than two months, the freezing season will arrive, and all projects will have to stop.

"President Fang, don't worry, these small matters can be completed before the end of the year. When spring comes next year, you can try planting seawater rice here."

Seeing that Fang Wei and the others had opened accounts at the county bank and that the initial investment had been transferred, Wu Jiang became even more polite to them.

From an investment perspective, a project on 10,000 mu of saline-alkali land may not seem large, but it holds extraordinary significance for the local area. If the project succeeds, it will revitalize a significant amount of local land resources.

Of course, this kind of thing is hard to see results in the short term; soil improvement takes at least three years.

night.

After finishing their meal, Fang Wei and the others returned to their rooms.

He gathered everyone down to sit and chat, to see what other ideas they had.
"Secretary, given the climate here, it's definitely only suitable for growing one season of rice. Besides, I think the water resources in Northwest China are generally scarce. Are there any other salt-tolerant crops we can find?"

Rice cultivation requires a lot of water resources. There is definitely no problem in planting seawater rice on the current 10,000 mu of saline-alkali land. I wonder if the water supply will be sufficient if it is promoted throughout the county in the future.

It would be wonderful if other crops also had the benefits of seawater rice.

"There are some crops that can be grown in saline-alkali land, but the critical value is generally no more than 0.6% salt content. The saline-alkali land here obviously does not meet this condition, as the salt content is much higher."

Our seawater rice has a critical salinity of 3%, which is unmatched by most salt-tolerant crops. I have a detailed plan here; when we get back to Urumqi, you guys can study it carefully.”

The higher the degree of salinization, the less suitable it is for planting crops, and even grass will not grow.

The saline-alkali land in Xiachu County has a high salt content, making it impossible for most salt-tolerant crops to survive. Research in this area is currently lagging behind; however, things will improve significantly in another twenty years.

But no matter what, [HaiDao 012] is the best choice.

The so-called critical value of 3% is not the limit for seawater rice. The critical value for the next batch of seawater rice will reach 4%-5% or even 6%.

Through rounds of cultivation, the salt tolerance threshold of 【Sea Rice 012】 has increased from 0.3% to 0.6% and now to 3%, which can be described as a miracle.

In the past few days, Fang Wei and others have also undergone testing, and it has been confirmed that there is absolutely no problem with planting [Sea Rice 012] on this saline-alkali land.

the next day.

The well-drilling team invited by the county arrived. After exploration, the average depth of the wells here is between 30 and 40 meters.

The county will not cover the cost of drilling the well. A well that is tens of meters deep costs a lot of money, and the county cannot afford it.

Therefore, Fang Wei will pay for the well drilling. He has already deposited some money here, so he doesn't need to worry about not being able to pay. However, the expenses have exceeded his budget, so he will have to be careful with his spending.

The other breeding team members had already arrived, so Fang Wei handed over the work here to Wang Muqi and flew back to Shenzhen with Yang Feng.

The experimental fields in Shenzhen soon ushered in the harvest day, with a bumper harvest of breeding and a bumper harvest of seawater rice.

"Chairman, the yield of [Haidao 012] has reached 1580 jin per mu. Its taste and quality are top-notch. Can we finalize the product now?"

Yang Feng received the statistical data and happily went to find Fang Wei. "Don't rush, let's wait for Professor Ma and the others to come up with their verification data. Now bring me the planting records, let me take a look."

Fang Wei shook his head, saying that there was no rush in the next few days.

He then checked the planting records and found that the salt tolerance threshold of seawater rice was absolutely stable at 3%, and even slightly exceeded it.

Currently, the data for 【Hai Dao 012】is excellent across the board. Not only has its salt tolerance threshold reached a new high, but its yield has also reached a new high.

After some time, Professor Ma called and said that the seawater rice they planted had yielded 1350 jin per mu.

It is truly remarkable that [Sea Rice 012] achieved this result without any attribute bonuses.

In addition, there are some differences in quality, taste and flavor, and it is certainly not as good as the seawater rice grown in the planting area, but it has already made Professor Ma and Professor Lin very happy.

"Professor Ma, we can finalize the design now. Please take care of the rest, including the application process. I need to go back to participate in the autumn harvest work."

"No problem, no problem, we'll go to Shenzhen in the next few days."

After discussing the matter with Professor Ma and others, Fang Wei returned to the village with Yang Feng.

Pan Lianhua and her sister accompanied him. Having been away for so long, they also wanted to go back and stay for a while.

Back in the village, the harvest season had already ended, just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

With the autumn harvest just around the corner after the holiday, Fang Wei shifted his focus to that work. He and Yang Feng would be conducting separate inspections, a tradition they couldn't break.

During this period, with the Mid-Autumn Festival coinciding with National Day, sales of Yaoling brand cooking oil have been quite good.

Rapeseed oil, in particular, continued its rapid growth and is loved by a wide range of consumers.

Fang Wei spent the holiday with Pan Lianhua, his older sister, and his elder brother and sister-in-law. Before the autumn harvest, he went to the provincial capital. He planned to meet with Huang Zhigang, Wang Lin, Pang Wanxin, and others, and then go directly from the provincial capital to the Tiannan Base.

The purpose of the inspection itself is not the inspection itself, but to try to understand the detailed situation of each production unit. After all, there are some things that cannot be understood just from reports or briefings.

After arriving in the provincial capital, he went straight back to his small courtyard.

This area used to consist mostly of self-built houses, but some of them have been demolished and replaced with garden-style residential communities.

After entering the room, he called Huang Zhigang. The call was answered by Huang's secretary, who said that the leader was in a meeting and that he would inform the leader later.

Fang Wei didn't say much, and then called Wang Lin, Pang Wanxin and others one by one.

Wang Lin and the others were delighted to receive his call and all expressed their desire to get together, setting the time for tomorrow night.

Fang Wei had eaten lunch on the way and, having nothing else to do, decided to take a nap. But shortly after lying down, Huang Zhigang called, inviting him to dinner that evening.

The two agreed on a time and place, and then hung up.

For two consecutive days, Fang Wei's main task was drinking. He drank with Huang Zhigang once, and then drank with Wang Lin and others the next day.

There was nothing really going on when he met with everyone this time; he was just trying to get to know each other better, which is why he stayed in the provincial capital for two days.

The day after his gathering with Wang Lin and others, he flew to Kunming.

After the plane landed smoothly, Fang Wei carried his suitcase out of the terminal, where the person in charge of Tiannan Base and the driver were waiting.

"Secretary, you must be tired from your journey."

"Well, let's go."

Fang Wei got into the car and went straight to Tiannan Base.

The Tiannan base is now quite large, with businesses including hybrid corn breeding, breeding and planting, and corn oil pressing.

Upon arriving at the base, Fang Wei convened a meeting of middle and senior management to hear work reports from relevant parties.

The next few days will be spent inspecting various production units and departments. The autumn harvest at the Tiannan base will be a little later, but all preparations have been made.

How much corn oil can we produce each day? How are the sales?

After wandering around the farmland for several days, Fang Wei finally arrived at the oil pressing factory.

He inquired about many production details and even went to the warehouse to take a look. He heard that sales were very good and there was basically no inventory backlog.

After leaving the oil mill, Fang Wei went to the finance department to review the recent audit reports.

"Old Chen, several audits have said your expenses are over the limit. What's going on?"

He then called the base manager over and, pointing to the rectification suggestions in the audit report, asked him a question.

“Secretary, this is my fault. I didn’t control the expenses properly. The base has a small number of employees, so we have to hire a lot of temporary workers during the busy farming season, and that cost is included in the expenses.”

Director Chen of the base first admitted his mistake, then subtly reminded Fang Wei that the number of employees approved by the parent company was too low, and there were errors in the cost calculations. (End of Chapter)