1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 175 Don’t worry, it will definitely be sold when the time comes!
"The V-shaped, or Y-shaped, fruit tree planting pattern is a modern agricultural planting pattern that combines early production, high yield, and high quality... Its main features are its extremely low main tree stump and two rows of side branches that are stretched and fixed at a 45-degree angle;"

"As we all know, dwarfing helps suppress unnecessary vegetative growth of fruit trees and promotes reproductive growth, while the V-shaped shape can maximize the light intensity and nutrient delivery of fruit-bearing branches and leaves, and also facilitates 360-degree fine management by fruit farmers... This is the main principle of the V-shaped fruit tree planting model."

After using a branch to draw a V-shaped fruit tree on the ground and the shape of the future orchard, Lei Hao stood up and motioned several company technicians to move closer: "Because this is a high-standard orchard with meticulous management, the early design and infrastructure work are very important, and all space must be fully utilized."

Seeing several technicians consciously taking out their notebooks, Lei Hao stepped on the ground and said, "The row spacing is 6 meters, the plant spacing is 5 meters, and a special flagpole-shaped stake frame with a stainless steel structure must be built next to each fruit seedling. The height is 6 meters, slightly higher than the mature plants;"

"It should be noted that in order to ensure the healthy growth of the plant's root system and the high standard of fruit acceptance, the pile frame should not be buried too deep, nor should it be stabilized with cement. You can consider using yellow phosphate ore to make a fine powder, and then press it with clay to form a pier, and then use a nail and tenon structure to stabilize it... This can not only provide phosphorus fertilizer for the plant, but also allow the pile frame pier to gradually merge with the soil, playing a sufficient supporting role;"

"Sliding holes should be left at the top and middle of the pile to facilitate the connection and fixing of the traction rope for later shaping and traction... Taking 60 cm as the standard, the pile should have at least 8 rows of sliding holes from the top to the bottom, which are used to correspond to the traction ropes of different heights, and also facilitate the traction of side branches of different plant heights and the replacement of new and old branches."

At this point, Lei Hao looked at the technician from an agricultural company behind him and said, "After the peach seedlings are transplanted, when they are adapted to survival, they need to be immediately layered, toppled, or pruned to make them split left and right, and gradually form V-shaped or Y-shaped main branches... Therefore, it is best that the fruit seedlings delivered are seedlings rather than cuttings, otherwise the survival rate and later growth will be affected... It would be even better if the layering and pruning work can be completed before delivery."

Seeing this, Yang Mo interrupted and said with a smile: "If Panhe Agriculture and Forestry Commercial Company can provide the fixed seedlings that Mr. Lei mentioned, and the specifications are uniform, it doesn't matter if the unit price is a little higher... After all, quality and efficiency are the first. It's not a good thing to keep replenishing seedlings. It's not good to delay the fruiting!"

The person in charge of Panhe Agriculture and Forestry Commercial Company understood what he meant, and nodded quickly in delight… The price of this specially customized seedling is completely “one seedling is worth ten seedlings”, and Yang Mo plans to invest in the construction of more than one high-quality peach orchard, so this is a big business.

Lei Hao ignored these people's behavior of dividing the cake and continued, "After the main branch starts to grow rapidly, the cultivation and management of the side branches on both sides will be the top priority... horizontal pulling, shaping, layering, leaf orientation, supplementary lighting, and leaf fertilizer spraying are all directly related to the number and quality of fruits!"

"In short, as long as the management is good, in three years at the earliest, when small branches grow on the side branches, the trees can start to bear fruit!"

"But it's different from ordinary peach orchards. Each tree is only allowed to have five rows of side branches from bottom to top, and the spacing between each row must be evenly distributed through pruning. As long as it's not within the planned range, all extra side branches will be pruned off... At first glance, this affects the yield, but it can maximize the nutrition that a fruit tree can produce. In fact, the yield is not lower than that of peach trees with extensive management, and the quality is even more incomparable."

Uncle Li was a little dumbfounded. So this V-shaped planting method that sounded quite intimidating was just cutting, cutting, cutting and pruning?

Still a good harvest?
Is this... reliable?

He glanced at Yang Mo uncertainly, and found that he just gave him an affirmative look. Only then did he swallow all his doubts.

Taking the cigarette from Yang Mo, Lei Hao gently put it between his ears and said, "In the initial design work, the spatial planning of the orchard and fruit trees is one aspect, but the integrated water and fertilizer system for daily management is also crucial."

Lei Hao turned around and looked at the person in charge of another unit. "The needs for water and fertilizer management are different in different periods, and the construction plans for supporting facilities are also different. Therefore, we should leave enough redundancy in the design."

"In the early days, when the fruit trees were still in the seedling stage, the pipes for water and fertilizer irrigation were laid at the forks of the V-shaped frame... Since the technology of deep buried drip irrigation is not yet mature, and fruit trees are different from vegetables, I do not require underground drip irrigation, surface drip irrigation is enough;"

"However, I hope that the drip irrigation pipes provided by your company will be strong and durable, and there will be no large-scale blockage of drip holes. Moreover, there will be no phenomenon of laziness and deliberately enlarging the drip holes, causing the water and fertilizer irrigation speed to be too fast... You know, peach seedlings are most afraid of suffocating their roots. Once you are careless in the details, the losses will be irreparable!"

The head of the agricultural materials company affiliated with the supply and marketing system had an unnatural expression on his face. He glanced at the people who were staring at him, and nodded with gritted teeth: "Researcher Lei, don't worry, we will provide drip irrigation equipment strictly according to the requirements of the drawings."

Lei Hao nodded: "Drip irrigation of water and fertilizer for saplings is very important, but it is not everything... As the trees grow, the water and fertilizer supply equipment can be changed to sprinkler pipes, and then the sprinkler pipes will be hung on the side branches of the first row of fruit trees; when the fruit trees are fully formed and can bear fruit, in order to maximize the effect, the sprinkler pipes need to be hung on the side branches of the second row... To put it bluntly, the position of water and fertilizer sprinkler irrigation is adjusted according to the growth of the roots of the fruit trees."

"So, before the fruit trees are finally established, the layout of the drip irrigation facilities needs to be adjusted and replaced every year and a half. The weight of the sprinkler pipe is a very important factor. After all, if the overall weight is too heavy, it is easy to break the tender branches. Unfortunately, the weight of the water and fertilizer itself is fixed. Therefore, we can only work hard on the material... Manager Liu, it will be up to you when the time comes."

After that, without even looking at the bitter face of the person in charge of the agricultural materials company, he turned around and looked at Uncle Li: "Brother, the fruits produced by high-standard orchards like this are generally exported. Although I don't know if Director Yang has found a buyer for you, it's better to pay attention to pesticide residues and heavy metals... After all, if it is exported to Europe, the monitoring in this regard is more stringent there."

Lei Hao pondered for a while and said, "Although I have several plans, after thinking about it, I think the fertilizer plan of [feeding grass with grass] is more appropriate."

After scratching his head, Lei Hao explained, "Brother, you may not be very clear. The quality of peaches is closely related to the core factors such as variety, soil, water, fertilizer, light, and management. It also has a lot to do with the micro-ecological environment in which it grows... Based on my research over the years and my experience in communicating with foreign agricultural experts, I found that fruit trees with a good micro-ecological environment produce more flavorful fruits than fruit trees grown in pure garden soil!"

"So, I plan to plant some flowering green manure plants such as alfalfa and pigeon pea in this field to supplement the soil fertilizer. At the same time, I also need to plant some hyperaccumulators such as iron-foot fern, nightshade with few flowers, and centipede grass to solve the problem of heavy metal residues in the soil... Of course, the soil needs to be taken to a professional institution for testing before deciding which hyperaccumulators to plant. But no matter what, the problem of heavy metals in the soil needs to be solved as much as possible. After all, many countries are stuck on this issue."

At this point, Lei Hao chuckled: "Fortunately, this piece of land is sandy. From what I heard from you before, I guess you didn't use a lot of fertilizers and pesticides here before, so the heavy metals and pesticide residues shouldn't be particularly serious... In addition, peach trees take three years to bear fruit. As long as they are managed properly and the water-fertilizer ratio is appropriate, these hyperaccumulators will be able to absorb most of the heavy metals in the soil. By then, we might even be able to meet the European standards."

"Look how suitable this is. There are roots underground and grass on the ground. Not only does it have a first-class moisturizing effect, but the sandy loam soil also ensures that it is loose and breathable;"

"In addition, planting so many flowering plants under the fruit trees can not only fertilize the soil, but also increase the flavor of the fruit. Those hyperaccumulators can also remove the original heavy metal pollution and water and fertilizer pollution as much as possible, killing two birds with one stone! However, those hyperaccumulators cannot be returned to the fields. They need to be specially incinerated. Otherwise, the heavy metals that have been accumulated with great effort will run back to the orchard."

Looking at the excited Lei Hao, Yang Mo smiled and added, "Teacher Lei, when selecting hyperaccumulator plants, it is best to screen out those that can be used for food or medicine. Otherwise, I am afraid that the villagers will pick them and eat them, which will be troublesome... For example, don't consider Lu Shang, Solanum nigrum, Shepherd's purse, Amaranth and Artemisia selengensis."

Lei Hao looked at Yang Mo in surprise: "Director Xiao Yang, do you also know about hyperaccumulators?"

The idea of ​​using enrichment plants to control heavy metal pollution in soil was only proposed by Western scholars in 1983. Therefore, the concepts of "enrichment" and "super-enrichment" are completely unfamiliar to most Chinese people today. Even domestic scientific research institutions have only just begun research in this area, let alone ordinary people.

If it were an ordinary researcher who had just gotten his feet wet, he might have scoffed at what Yang Mo had just said. Solanum nigrum and Rhizoma Coptidis were fine, but when did shepherd's purse and amaranth also become hyperaccumulators?

However, he had just communicated with foreign agricultural researchers a few months ago and knew that these two common vegetables were indeed enriching plants and had been tried in intercropping management programs for cultivated land... The former was enriched in lead, and the latter was enriched in cadmium.

Seeing this, Yang Mo smiled modestly and said, "I don't really understand it, I've only heard about it a little bit."

Such a low-key and modest demeanor made Lei Hao a little confused. In addition to having a better impression of Yang Mo, he was also a little worried about whether it was really unrealistic for him to suddenly build such a high-quality fruit tree plantation as he thought... After all, from some signs, this young man did not seem to know nothing about agriculture. Restraining his curiosity, Lei Hao coughed: "Of course, since the area of ​​this orchard is a bit large and the distance between the fruit trees is also large, whether it is returning grass to the field or harvesting and processing super-enriched plants, a small lawn mower is needed... In this area, I heard that Hongguang Machinery Factory already has relatively mature products, so there should be no technical problems at that time."

Turning his head to Li Bo again, Lei Hao said seriously: "Brother, high-quality orchards like this must be carefully managed... In fact, the most important reason why the V-shaped fruit tree planting model can be promoted and implemented in island countries and parts of Europe is that it can bring many conveniences to careful management;"

"Take quality control for example. If you want to have even fruiting, you have to comb the flowers, pollinate them, and comb the fruits half a month later to achieve even nutrition.

"After combing, the fruits need to be carefully selected, eliminated twice, and then bagged to prevent pests; then the bags are taken out and colored at the appropriate time;"

"Secondly, after the fruit is set, we need to control the growth of the trees to prevent the lateral branches from growing too long, and also prevent various diseases caused by the dense leaves and lack of ventilation;"

"After harvesting the fruits, we need to eliminate the old branches and select and cultivate healthy new branches... Whether it is pruning old branches or selecting new branches, there are many things to pay attention to. If you cut half an inch more, the entire side branch will be scrapped, and if you cut half an inch less, the new branch will grow too long and not bear fruit!"

"In addition, the water-fertilizer ratio and pesticide selection, spraying method, and dosage at different times are all very particular. A delay of one or two days will make a big difference in the results!"

"Finally, in order not to damage the side branches, the peaches produced in this garden must be picked on a lift... After being picked, they must undergo various tests and then be sent to the matching screening room for grading and packaging... Overseas countries pay attention to this. If you don't grade them, it will be difficult to sell them at a good price."

Lei Hao sighed and said, "Who says agriculture is a rough job that requires no skills? To be honest, agriculture requires far more skills than other industries, and practitioners need to learn a lot!"

Seeing this senior researcher secretly glancing at him, Li Bo's lips trembled.

To be honest, he has been busy in the fields for most of his life, but this is the first time he has encountered such a delicate and tiring job... As they are all farm workers, he certainly knows that what Lei Hao said are just some frameworks, and there are a lot of tiring details involved.

To be honest, if it weren't for the involvement of the young man Yang Mo, he wouldn't want this high-quality orchard project with such a horrifying amount of initial investment even if it was given to their village for free.

But now...

Li Bo's eyelids twitched a few times, and he asked a question that most people were most concerned about: "Researcher Lei, you said this thing is so troublesome, how much do you sell the peaches produced for?"

Lei Hao hesitated for a moment. "This kind of high-quality fruit produced through meticulous management is sold at the high end... There are similar products in island countries, Southeast Asia, and Europe. If we follow the market conditions of the past two years, as long as the quality is up to standard, the fruit shape is perfect, and the color is bright, a box of 4 kg of first-class fruit can be sold at a price of 32 to 40 US dollars per box in the island countries and European markets."

"The prices in Thailand and Malaysia are lower, and they are mainly second-grade fruit, which can be sold at about 14 to 16 US dollars per box in the market... But these are the market prices. I don't know what the purchase price and distributors are."

How much?
Thirty or forty dollars per box?
I'm a darling!
Although Uncle Li didn't know the exchange rate between the US dollar and the RMB, he knew that this thing was worth a lot of money.

And although the market price and the purchase price are two different things, the problem is... even if it is thirty RMB for four kilograms, it is still an incredible price.

Thinking of this, Uncle Li looked at Yang Mo tremblingly.

What a good young man! What a good young man!

Just for the price, they are determined to do it even if the initial investment is a little higher, even if the job can kill them!

Seeing Uncle Li who was so excited that he was about to have a heart attack, Lei Hao sighed, "But, brother, I won't hide it from you. These are the prices from last year and the year before last. Since June this year, we have been at odds with America, and they are trying to strangle us again. With their words, even if these peaches are grown well... I have no idea whether any foreign merchants will dare to buy them!"

what?

Are we having a falling out with those foreigners again?

Uncle Li, who learned about this for the first time, was stunned for a moment, then his expression became serious.

As a mule and horse transport soldier who almost had to fight those foreign devils with his 50 submachine gun, Uncle Li naturally had no good feelings towards the country on the other side of the ocean. Seeing the piece of fat meat that was about to fall into his mouth fly away from the village, although he felt sad, he did not lose his composure.

only……

Uncle Li was thinking about whether he should resume the village's militia training this year and train those little brats hard; at the same time, he looked at Yang Mo with some uncertainty.

The meaning is very clear: young man, what do you think now that this variable has occurred? Should you go along with the situation or go all the way and carry on with this project?

Seeing this, Yang Mo smiled and said, "Teacher Lei, don't worry. This orchard project is going according to plan. I promise... when the first batch of peaches bear fruit, as long as they meet the standards of commercial fruit, we will definitely be able to sell them abroad smoothly, and the price will definitely not be worse than before!"

Um? ?

Lei Hao looked at the young man in surprise.

As the deputy director of the special working group, Yang Mo could not have been unaware of this incident, nor could he have been unaware of the relationship between them.

Where do you get the confidence to sell these peaches when the time comes?
(End of this chapter)