1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 372 Feels like I lost out on a seedling nursery
Thinking about the cards he had, Chen Jiazhi was afraid that Xia Youche wouldn't be able to handle it and would give in early.

That would be pointless.

Thinking of this, Chen Jiazhi couldn't help but think of Curly Hair, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

The reason is that although Curly Hair's development is fast, it cannot keep up with Chen Jiazhi's development speed.

Nowadays, Curly Hair is just an ordinary member on the stall's customer list.

Therefore, he hoped that Xia's car could last longer.

Pressure is a driving force, and the journey to achieving goals becomes more exciting.

Instead of just a bunch of dry, boring data.

Chen Jiazhi held the latest sales data in his hand, showing that the sales reached 210 million yuan in just one week.

Moreover, it is very likely to continue for another week, and the expected revenue is over 400 million yuan.

Chinese kale makes up more than half of the dishes, so the other vegetables hidden behind it also perform quite well.

Overall, it was a very successful batch of vegetables.

Having money naturally leads to thoughts of how to spend it. After boiling water, Chen Jiazhi made himself a cup of black tea, then picked up a pen and began to ponder.

The Zengcheng late-season cabbage base was not yet set up as planned at the beginning of the year.

In addition, he also has the idea of ​​opening another vegetable market to serve Shenzhen and surrounding areas, and to expand his market share in the category of bok choy.

However, we also need to consider whether it fits the current situation, since the pressure is already quite high.

As he pondered, he seemed to hear DouDou's childish voice.

Sure enough, not long after, Li Xiu knocked on the door and entered. "I hope I didn't disturb your work. I brought you some snacks to tide you over."

Chen Jiazhi smiled and accepted it, "What a coincidence, I'm actually hungry. You really know me inside and out."

Li Xiu's eyes crinkled into a smile. "I was thinking that it was already late afternoon, and you didn't eat much at noon, so you must be hungry. I bought some food for you in town and brought it over."

"Daddy, eat!"

DouDou also handed over a small piece of snack that she had licked.

Chen Jiazhi dodged away in disgust, saying, "Dou Dou can eat by herself, Daddy has some here."

DouDou: Let's eat together~

"Okay, okay, let's eat together," Chen Jiazhi instructed him. "You should also give some to your mother."

DouDou glanced at the pancake in her hand, then looked up at Li Xiu, and finally handed it over with her little hand.

Li Xiu smiled and said, "Dou Dou can eat by herself, Mommy isn't hungry~"

At this moment, Li Xiu also noticed the unsealed pen and writing marks on the table.

"DouDou, let's go, let's not disturb Dad's work, let's go help your second aunt."

"Pinch the vegetables?" The little hand waved back and forth.

"Yes, pinch off the vegetables."

After the mother and son left, Chen Jiazhi thought of his parents again. After they stayed in their hometown for a while, even though his father pretended to be deaf and mute, he couldn't resist the warmth of the people.

In addition, I miss my grandson, so I've decided to come again.

I shook my head, just as I was clearing my mind and getting ready to get down to business, when another phone call came in.

"Mr. Chen, this is Ma Ming from Yuanmou. I'm calling to give you some good news."

Chen Jiazhi raised an eyebrow and said, "Is the county going to subsidize the seedling nursery or the greenhouse? I really have to thank Director Ma for his concern."

Ma Ming: "..."

After a two-second silence, Ma Ming said, "No, the policy hasn't been finalized yet, but two research institutes and one company have decided to carry out seedling cultivation and propagation work in Yuanmou after their investigation."

Chen Jiazhi thought it over and over, and said in bewilderment, "Shouldn't I be the one to give you good news? Director Ma, your work has been very effective!"

"Congratulations, congratulations." Ma Ming finally smiled. "This is all thanks to the publicity you did for Yuanmou. The county leaders asked me to ask you when you will come to Yuanmou again, so we can sit down together and talk about investment promotion."

This time, three companies were signed, all of which were seed production and propagation enterprises that Yunling Agriculture attracted through its promotion.

This made the local leadership realize the potential of Yuanmou in the field of seed production and propagation.

At the same time, we also attach great importance to the role played by Yunling Agriculture.

“Okay,” Chen Jiazhi said, “I still need to think about the specific time to come.”

Ma Ming asked, "Is Mr. Chen very busy lately?"

Chen Jiazhi hummed in agreement, and to avoid any misunderstanding, he explained in more detail.

"I'm very busy. The vegetable market is producing a lot of vegetables at good prices. Soon, the vegetable seedlings will need to be grafted again. Also, the broccoli from our Shanghai base is nearing its critical growth stage, but we haven't finalized our clients yet. I need to make some plans first and then let you know when I have a specific time."

"Okay, I will pass it on to my supervisor."

Before he hung up the phone, Chen Jiazhi quickly asked which three organizations had decided to go to Yuanmou.

Two research institutes in the north, and a company called Jinmen Lvfeng Horticulture Company, whose general manager is Lü Shuzhen.

Chen Jiazhi felt that the name was familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

After repeating it several times, and then seeing the book on Chinese vegetables on the bookshelf, Chen Jiazhi finally remembered who Lü Shuzhen was.

Lu Shuzhen, wife of Academician Hou Feng, who specializes in cucumber research, is also a breeder at the Tianjin Cucumber Research Institute.

Has this meant they've started their own company?
Chen Jiazhi was very surprised; things were a bit beyond his expectations.

Currently, the scions for the grafted cucumber seedlings cultivated at the nursery are mainly from the Jinchun series cultivated by Jinmen cucumber.

It is still unknown what varieties Lvfeng Horticulture is currently focusing on, but competition is probably inevitable.

Then he thought that Lvfeng Horticulture might become a customer of the seedling farm in the future, which he found quite interesting.

Chen Jiazhi lost interest in thinking about the spending plan and contacted Peng Qian by phone again.

We learned that the municipal seed company refused to build a seed breeding base in Yuanmou.

However, due to the demand for export seed orders, they agreed to continue their cooperation with Yunling Company in the propagation of cruciferous vegetables.

Meanwhile, of the several companies we cooperated with before the Lunar New Year, three have already committed to seed production and propagation in Yuanmou, while the feedback from the others has been very positive. There is a good chance that we can secure a few more orders for the seedling nursery, and the nursery is in a good order situation.

It was as if, after his gamble on the kale market, the world not only opened a window for him, but also opened a door, with good news coming one after another. This brought the Yuanmou seedling farm's goal of producing and propagating seedlings a significant step forward.

Chen Jiazhi scribbled a couple of lines in his notebook and then immediately thought of seedling substrate.

When he was in Shanghai, he also mentioned to Ao Dehai that they needed to solve the problem of substrate this year.

Now we should speed things up even more.

Thinking of this, he got up and went to the seedling nursery to find Fang Xuelin.

"Old Fang, how's the substrate progressing?"

Fang Xuelin, puzzled, pondered and said, "Once we finish grafting this batch of seedlings and assess the survival rate, the advantages and disadvantages of various formulas will become clear."

In front of Chen Jiazhi were trays of seedlings in plug trays, with the rootstock and scion separated.

"The grafting can start tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, everything is ready."

"it is good."

In recent years, there has been an increase in research on seedling substrates in China.

From early coal and sand.

Nowadays, cassava residue, wheat straw, mushroom residue, vinegar residue, furnace slag, and other substrates, as well as vermiculite and peat moss mixed in different proportions, are used to replace traditional seedling substrates.

The seedling nursery is now combining production with the screening and research of substrate formulas for solanaceous and leafy vegetable seedlings.

Chen Jiazhi doesn't know much about this.

But it boils down to three principles: readily available materials, low cost, and suitable for seedling growth.

Currently, there are basic assessments of material sourcing, cost, substrate weight, and seedling growth.

However, the growth process is incomplete before the vegetable seedlings have been grafted and harvested.

Chen Jiazhi estimated the timeline and said that results should be available in April, while Yuanmou and Maoming might need to start preparing for seedling cultivation in May or June.

Time is a bit tight.

"Old Fang, communicate with Yuanmou and Shuidong seedling farms. Some substrate materials can be prepared in advance."

After a pause, once Fang Xuelin had received the message, Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "I have good news for you. The Yuanmou Seedling Farm has opened up a new market for seed production and seedling cultivation, and the order trend is very good this year."

"That's really good news."

Fang Xuelin finally understood why his boss had come to see him in such a hurry; he was there to urge the progress of the project.

After learning about the progress of the substrate, Chen Jiazhi had differing opinions on the next steps.

Besides the already agreed-upon Zengcheng cabbage, should the next step be to first build a base around Shenzhen, or to first invest in a substrate production plant?

...

The next day.

The seedling nursery has begun grafting work.

Thanks to prior training and assignment, the grafting workers entered the site in an orderly manner to perform grafting.

The efficiency wasn't ideal at first, but as long as the quantity was large enough, proficiency could be built up quickly.

The key is the survival rate of the grafted seedlings.

Therefore, we cannot simply increase the grafting speed; technicians must also constantly check the grafting process.

Generally speaking, it is possible to preliminarily confirm whether vegetable seedlings have survived 7 to 10 days after grafting.

It's not obvious in a short time.

Moreover, the survival rate depends not only on the grafting technique but also on post-grafting management.

"Old Fang, our facilities and equipment are still too rudimentary."

During the inspection of the seedling farm, the ventilation openings on both sides of the greenhouse were already in place, and shade nets were placed overhead to cool the area.

Fang Xuelin glanced at the orderly and busy workers, "I feel pretty good, I'm sure we can complete this seedling task."

The two of them were not on the same wavelength.

From Chen Jiazhi's perspective, the entire grafting process appeared somewhat disorganized.

In particular, the grafted seedlings in the plug trays were simply left in the greenhouse without proper care.

As Chen Jiazhi walked, he secretly planned, hoping to have a grafting assembly line, grafting tables, and grafting healing rooms.
Finally, a centralized seedling factory is formed.

This will require a large sum of money.

Even though vegetable prices remain high and the market is still quite profitable, it still can't support his ideas.

Outside the seedling nursery, large patches of soil color appeared on the once lush green vegetable market.

As boxes of harvested kale and bok choy are successively stored or converted into cash, the vegetable market is gradually entering a new round of cultivation.

A short while later, Chen Jiazhi arrived at the cold storage.

"Wang Hong, how many kale florets are still in the cold storage?"

Without hesitation, warehouse manager Wang Hong said, "About 160 tons, plus the ones that haven't been put into storage yet, this batch of kale will be sold out in six days at most."

Chen Jiazhi: "It's still too conservative."

Wang Hong asked in surprise, "Boss, there are only a few days left, and the market is still good. There's no need to speed up the shipment."

Chen Jiazhi waved his hand, "Oh, I meant that the planting was too conservative. I never thought that even this wouldn't be enough to sell. I should have planted more kale back then."

Wang Hong: "..."

The market showed no signs of ending, and the vegetables were about to sell out.

Chen Jiazhi felt he had lost a seedling factory. He warned anyone who called him a gambler again that he would be furious!

Just then, someone shouted from the office building.

"Boss Chen, the manager of Shuidong Ao Farm called and said it's time to start harvesting the mustard greens!"

(End of this chapter)