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

Chapter 65: New Problems, Potential is About to be Exhausted
Zheng Xianfa didn't ask Fang Wei where the soybeans in front of him came from, but just kept asking for seeds.

The Fang brothers still owed the team some soybean seeds, and the peanut seeds had already been paid off. Zheng Xianfa was sure that the other party would not refuse.

"Captain, I was planning to discuss this with you later. I plan to set aside five mu of experimental land next year to cultivate high-yield soybean seeds. I've already saved the seeds."

Fang Wei couldn't help but laugh and quickly told him his plan.

"It has to be our little scholar. His vision is beyond the reach of others. Let's talk about this matter after the autumn harvest. I will definitely support you. Well, go ahead and get busy. Remember to go there early tomorrow."

Zheng Xianfa showed a relieved smile. He was naturally very clear about the significance of soybeans. He asked for the seeds just now because he wanted to plant some next year according to the situation.

Now that Fang Wei said he has plans in this regard, that’s great.

Afterwards, Zheng Xianfa turned around and walked out, thinking that the Fang brothers were not easy to deal with. They could actually get so many soybeans during such difficult times.

Since so many soybeans can’t be grown in a private plot, does that mean they must be grown outside?
When the Fang family came to the team to borrow soybean and peanut seeds, he didn't ask. Now he was just guessing, and he had no intention of digging deeper.

"This kid! He must have been dragged to the mountain by that beautiful girl from the Yao village to plant soybeans. We have to be careful. If they get together in the future, it's the girl who's married into the village. We can't let him go to the village."

Zheng Xianfa's thoughts wandered as he was thinking.

It is true that the Fang brothers were farming in the mountains, but they were not cooperating with the Yao village. Instead, they were quietly clearing land in the valley and planting crops.

"Third Brother, I didn't know you were selecting seeds, otherwise you would have stopped Captain Zheng. Is it okay for him to see these soybeans? If he insists on asking about it, just say it was my father-in-law who got them."

Fang Ping still didn't understand Zheng Xianfa, so he was a little worried.

Fang Wei smiled and shook his head, saying:
"It's okay even if he saw it. The captain is very smart. How many things in the team can be hidden from his eyes? Don't worry, he won't ask any more questions. He knows which is more important and which is less important."

If there was one person in the entire production team who could see through Zheng Xianfa, it would be Fang Wei.

In his view, Zheng Xianfa only cared about whether grain production could be increased and whether the members could have enough food and clothing. As for other matters, as long as they did not violate the overall principles, he would turn a blind eye.

When Fang Ping heard his third brother say this, he said no more.

The two of them picked out 42 kilograms of seeds before going back to eat.

Today at noon there was fried eggs with leeks, fried peppers, and a plate of small river shrimps, which made Fang Wei wonder if he had remembered the date wrong. Could it be a holiday today?
"There's no need to exchange eggs for money at home for now. You've been very tired recently, so you need to replenish your energy. Hu Zi asked Deng Yuanen to send the river shrimp. Eat them while they're fresh. They won't be as fragrant if they're dried."

Tian Guihua explained with a smile, and Fang Wei suddenly understood.

A few days ago, he brought over some eggs that had been stored for a while and asked his sister-in-law to boil an egg for Taotao every day. Taotao had a hard time going to and from school every day, so he needed to get enough nutrition.

How could Tian Guihua let her brother-in-law do this?

She also raises chickens herself. She used to be reluctant to eat the eggs because she wanted to exchange them for money. Now that her family is much better off, it would be a bit inappropriate for her to be so stingy.

This is the fundamental reason why you can eat eggs at noon.

"Third brother, the fields over there in the valley need fertilizer. It will take some time to grow sweet potatoes."

Fang Ping never forgot about growing sweet potatoes. He planned to store more food. Even if the late rice harvest was a bumper one, it would not stop him from stockpiling more sweet potatoes or potatoes.

However, you cannot plant sweet potatoes immediately after harvesting soybeans. You need to increase the fertility of the soil first and wait until around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Fang Wei nodded. There was nothing to discuss about this matter. He just did as his elder brother said.

However, he had a feeling that the land in the valley wouldn't last long. Within a year at the shortest, or a year and a half to two years at the longest, there should be major changes in the valley.

However, he did not tell his elder brother about this guess. He thought that the land could be used day by day and there was no point in thinking too much about it.

The next day.

Fang Weiyi arrived at the team headquarters early and went up the mountain with the other members. Zheng Hu and others had also arrived, but Deng Yuanen was left behind to work in the experimental fields.

The group of young people chatted and laughed along the way and did not regard this as a chore.

When we arrived at the place, everyone started picking tea seeds.

Fang Wei observed that the situation this year was obviously better than last year, which meant that each household would eventually get more tea oil.

Unfortunately, this forest belongs to the production team, so he cannot designate it, otherwise the harvest this year would be even greater.

"When I have time, I'll go to the deep mountains and old forests. If I find a large area of tea oil trees, I can try to pick one."

It is not realistic to plant tea oil trees artificially. The team is currently still at the stage of solving the problem of food and clothing, so it does not have the spare energy to do so many things.

Moreover, the current planting technology is not up to standard, so there is no need to do such a thankless task.

Fang Wei picked the fruits slowly and leisurely. Their work points were not linked to anything other than breeding, so they did not have to compete with the other members.

The mountains and forests are filled with singing and laughter. Picking tea seeds is a big event in the year, otherwise you won’t be able to eat oil.

Especially a group of married women with children, who were working skillfully while making jokes that would make young people blush.

Fang Wei was not disgusted. Instead, he felt that everywhere was full of the breath of life.

Everyone worked for almost a week before they finished picking tea seeds.

The breeding team will no longer be needed for the subsequent steps of drying, shelling, steaming, and oil pressing, so Fang Wei and others have resumed their usual work pace.

Fang Wei was allocated 17 kilograms of tea oil, which he gave all to his sister-in-law.

He doesn't cook himself, and everyone eats from the same pot anyway, so he has less worries.

On the one hand, Zheng Hu and others had to take good care of the experimental fields, and on the other hand, they had to find time to study.

Time passed by unknowingly, and the sweet potatoes planted in the private plot were ripe.

Fang Wei harvested all the sweet potatoes by himself, needing no help. After weighing them, they weighed 400 kilograms, equivalent to a yield of 4000 kilograms per mu, a further increase in yield.

[Harvesting crops, points +400, total points: 5795 points.]

[Please note that the existing sweet potato varieties are about to reach their upper limit of yield per mu, which is 4500-5000 kilograms per mu]

Changing sweet potato varieties may lead to a breakthrough in per-acre yield.

The sudden prompt message made Fang Wei stunned for a while.

But if you think about it, you can understand that the yield of any crop has an upper limit at a certain time. In addition to the seed (variety), it is also restricted by factors such as climate, soil, fertilizer, etc.

So, he wasn't very disappointed.
According to his estimation, the per-acre yield of sweet potatoes in this land in the valley will stop at around 4500 kilograms.

In an era without chemical fertilizers, this exaggerated per-acre yield figure has exhausted the potential of fast seeds.

Looking at the recent increases in sweet potato production, we can actually understand that the proportion of increased production and increased income is gradually decreasing.

However, a yield of 4500 jin per mu is already very impressive. If it is taken to other production teams for planting, the yield per mu is estimated to be around 3000 jin.

Therefore, no new sweet potato varieties will be specially cultivated in the future, and unless the existing varieties degenerate, they will continue to be cultivated.

(End of this chapter)