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

The Great Northwest, Xiachu County.

Ten thousand mu of saline-alkali land has been transformed into seawater rice fields after being washed away by water.

The reason for flushing the land with water is to reduce the salt content and some harmful substances, as Fang Wei explained earlier, so this step was not omitted.

Once the seawater rice is successfully planted here, we can determine whether physical soil improvement is needed based on the critical salinity value for seawater rice cultivation.

After all, water resources are very precious in Northwest China, so we should try our best to conserve them.

"Get ready, the Party Secretary should be here soon."

After working for most of the day, Wang Muqi called over several members of the breeding team.

He sent a driver to pick up Fang Wei from the airport in the morning, and by the time it was ready, she was back.

As soon as he finished speaking, a pickup truck drove up from a distance and stopped in front of him. Fang Wei then got out of the vehicle.

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

"It's alright, you're all here? Come on, let's go inside and talk more."

Fang Wei greeted everyone and then went into the office.

The base's dormitories and offices are already in use, the irrigation system is complete, and other facilities are still under construction.

It's a long flight from Guangzhou, and there are still hundreds of kilometers to go after landing, so he did feel quite tired.

After chatting briefly with Wang Muqi and others in the office, he went to his dormitory to rest and didn't come out to eat until after 8 p.m.

the next day.

After having breakfast, Fang Wei went to the fields to check on the growth of the seawater rice.

Because the rice seedlings were only recently planted, they are not very tall, but they appear to be very vigorous. This area is usually off-limits to plants, yet now tens of thousands of acres of farmland have been added, making it look out of place with the surrounding environment.

After lunch, Fang Wei began giving a lecture to the managers and technicians.

Planting seawater rice is a new thing, and Fang Wei needs to explain some key technical points to everyone in detail so that some common mistakes can be avoided.

"There's a difference between planting seawater rice in the saline-alkali land of Northwest China and planting it on coastal mudflats. The main purpose of having you bury deep drainage ditches under the farmland is to lower the groundwater level and prevent the soil from becoming salinized again due to excessively high water levels."

Fang Wei talked for an entire afternoon, and Wang Muqi and the others listened very attentively, even taking notes.

Their foundation wasn't strong, so when they had the opportunity to learn practical knowledge, they were eager to cram it all into their heads.

After finishing the lecture, Fang Wei returned to the dormitory with everyone.

Wang Muqi and his team hired a local uncle to cook for them. Tonight, the uncle made soup and rice, as well as naan bread and roasted mutton.

Fang Wei ate with great relish. He loved food and had a wide range of tastes, with no particular dietary restrictions.

"Secretary, I think there's no problem with planting seawater rice here. The problem is whether we can sell it after the harvest?"

While eating, Wang Muqi asked Fang Wei for advice.

His biggest worry now is that there is no market for the seawater rice. The yield of 10,000 mu of seawater rice is at least tens of millions of jin. If it cannot be sold, the cost of investment will not be recovered.

"You don't need to worry about this. I'm afraid there will be a shortage of supply."

Fang Wei smiled. "[Sea Rice 012] tastes good, and it has been tested and found to be rich in many elements that are beneficial to the human body. If the sales company promotes it, it will definitely be a bestseller."

Scarcity drives up prices, so this stuff will definitely be priced much higher than regular rice.

"Oh, then I'm relieved."

Wang Muqi breathed a sigh of relief. He had already grown to love this job, finding it much more interesting than staying in the village.

This is the first time we've planted seawater rice here, and we don't plan to breed it here for the time being. Breeding will still be done at the experimental field in Shenzhen, since even if we produce a large quantity of seawater rice seeds now, we won't be able to sell them.

As of now, [Haidao 012] is still in the large-scale verification stage.

However, once the large-scale verification is successful, we can try breeding in Xiachu County. At that time, it will be enough to ask the county for an additional 10000 mu of saline-alkali land.

Anyway, the saline-alkali land is free, and the county is more than happy for Fang Wei to expand the scale.

When the time comes, we can also improve the salt-tolerant crops developed by Professor Ma and his team here. As long as we can raise the salt tolerance threshold, we hope to plant them on a large scale in the local area.

the next day.

When Wu Jiang learned that Fang Wei had arrived in the area, he made a special trip to meet with her.

He admired Fang Wei's efficiency; he was clearly a man of action. Sure enough, 10,000 mu of saline-alkali land had already been planted with seawater rice, and some of the ancillary facilities were already built, with the rest soon to be completed.

With the investment of real money, Wu Jiang became increasingly polite to Fang Wei.

"Secretary Fang, let's have a good drink tonight."

Fang Wei couldn't refuse Wu Jiang's warm invitation, and went to the county for another drink that evening.

Others in the county kept subtly hinting at the economic value of seawater rice, but Fang Wei didn't give a direct answer, only saying that they would know when the time came.

He stayed in BC County for 10 days, providing technical guidance, organizing business training sessions, and handling all sorts of other matters.

He then flew to Guangzhou.

Fang Wei wasn't in a hurry to return to the village. Yang Feng and Secretary Du were waiting for him at the group company, and he planned to stay in Guangzhou for a while. With him overseeing things at the group company, Hu Linwei and others went out to inspect the area, which was a company tradition.

Fortunately, Fang Wei doesn't need to worry about most of the administrative work, otherwise he would be too busy.

"Chairman, I received a call saying that a national media outlet wants to interview our seawater rice project."

The news of the successful development of 【Haidao 012】 has been reported in many media outlets thanks to the efforts of Professor Sun Shili, Professor Ma, Professor Lin, and others.

This is both a publicity stunt and a form of popular science education.

Yang Feng was very excited to receive a call from a national-level media outlet, as this would definitely be a great help to the seawater rice project.

"Hmm, when are you coming?"

Fang Wei nodded, feeling that she couldn't shirk this responsibility.

"We'll arrive in Shenzhen around noon the day after tomorrow. They said they wanted to film the experimental fields, so we can only meet them at the seawater rice experimental fields."

Yang Feng wasn't sure if Fang Wei was willing to make the trip to Shenzhen, so he made a point of explaining.

“Alright, I’ll go a day early. By the way, Assistant Yang, could you call Professor Ma and Professor Lin and see if they’d be willing to make the trip? If they’re willing to go to Shenzhen, we can do the interview together.”

Fang Wei considered it for a few minutes and decided that it wouldn't be a big deal to make a trip to Shenzhen, so he agreed.

However, there are still two partners in the seawater rice project. Regardless of whether Professor Ma and his team come or not, it would be good for him to let them know.

"Okay, I'll make the call right away."

Yang Feng then returned to his office and called Professor Ma and Professor Lin.

Upon hearing that they would be being interviewed by a national media outlet, the two immediately said they would set off the next day to take this opportunity to promote seawater rice.

The next day.

Fang Wei then went to Shenzhen with Yang Feng.

Pan Lianhua hadn't seen her for quite a while, so she specially asked her older sister to cook some hometown dishes for lunch. Xiao Jie also came back for lunch; her pregnancy was now very obvious, but she was still going to work.

The company boss took good care of her, reducing her workload considerably. She didn't need to clock in every day, and she could even get some sleep when she got home.

"Dad, I heard you're traveling all over the country these days. Take it easy and don't overwork yourself."

Xiao Jie was also very happy to see her father, and she kept talking while eating.

"I'm fine, but you need to rest. If you really can't take it, take a few months off, understand?"

Fang Wei smiled, feeling gratified by her daughter's concern.

However, when it comes to his daughter, he fully demonstrates what double standards mean, wishing he could keep her at home all day.

"It's okay, my boss takes good care of me, and work isn't tiring at all. There's no need to take leave so early; I'll just ask for leave half a month in advance when the time comes."

Fang Wei chatted with her daughter for a while, and then chatted with Pan Lianhua for a while before finishing the meal.

By the afternoon, Professor Ma and Professor Lin had arrived in Shenzhen.

Fang Wei personally picked them up from the airport and then went directly to a restaurant to treat the guests to dinner.

"The seawater rice in Xiachu County has been transplanted and is growing well. Professor Ma, Professor Lin, when would you like to go and take a look?"

He introduced the two to the situation of the seawater rice planting base in BC County, and Professor Ma nodded repeatedly as he listened.

"After the interview, Professor Lin and I will go to Xiachu County to visit our base."

Professor Ma plans to visit the seawater rice planting base in Xiachu County soon, and Professor Lin has no objection.

The three of them ate and chatted, but none of them mentioned the interview tomorrow.

Everyone has been interviewed countless times before, so they are completely in control of this kind of thing.

The next day.

Media reporters arrived at the experimental field around noon.

Fang Wei, Professor Ma, and Professor Lin all appeared on camera. Fang Wei mainly talked about the cultivation process of seawater rice, while Professor Ma mainly gave a popular science presentation.

Professor Lin didn't say much, but mainly talked about the future development prospects of seawater rice, and especially emphasized its social significance.

The interview was a success, and afterwards Fang Wei treated everyone to a meal in the city before the interviewers rushed back to Beijing. Fang Wei himself felt ashamed of his efficiency, as he rarely traveled in such a rush.

Professor Ma and Professor Lin stayed in Shenzhen for two more days, mainly to learn about the breeding of seawater rice.

Then, the two of them took a plane to the Northwest and eventually arrived in Xiachu County.

Wang Muqi had met the two men before, so their trip went smoothly, and they received a warm welcome from the Xiachu County authorities.

Fang Wei did not stay in Shenzhen for long. After returning to Guangzhou, he set off to various places to investigate this year's soybean planting situation.

He's been incredibly busy this year, traveling between the Northwest and the Northeast, spending more time away from home than at home. Of course, his field trips aren't limited to rural areas and farms; he also visits major cities in those regions.

I visited supermarkets, seed companies, and farmers' markets, mainly to observe the prices of grains and oils. As a result, I found Yaoling rice and Yaoling brand cooking oil in many places. (End of Chapter)