Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"This is Miss Yelena from the Kazdel Department of Agriculture; she will be showing you around."

"Hello." The white rabbit extended its hand to shake hands with the old man opposite it. "Let's go, we don't like formalities here, let's go straight to the nearest agricultural factory..."

"Wait, we're here to visit your plantation, not..."

"Uh..." Yelena coldly glanced at the Taoist priest who had spoken, and then said nothing. The old tutor glared at the guy, and the latter shut up on his own.

At the Kazdel aeroponics factory, after a tedious shower, rinse, and change into clean protective suits, a group of Great Flame people walked into the disinfection tunnel, suppressing their anger. They felt that these Sarkaz people were just going through the motions; they weren't there to see the machines, but to see the improved seeds and agricultural technology.

After passing through the disinfection tunnel, a lush green expanse came into view, as if a green wall had risen from the ground, with dense rice leaves almost obscuring the high-powered artificial photosynthesis lamps.

The light is orange-red with a slight yellow tint, and the color will be adjusted according to the plant's development to ensure that it is within the maximum range of photosynthesis utilization throughout the process.

A light mist permeates the space between the planting racks, absorbed by the leaves and the spiderweb-like root system. Each planting rack is about 1.5 meters high, and the entire planting space is about 10 meters high. There are a total of 6 planting racks, and each rack can be planted on both sides. The densely packed rice plants are fixed on them at a certain angle.

It's not yet the time for the rice to turn yellow. During the second leaf-forming stage, the rice leaves are emerald green, like plump pieces of jade hanging down, resembling layers of green gauze.

"In an aeroponic plantation, a single layer of a planting pod can grow about 2 rice plants, and the entire frame can grow 12 rice plants. If dense planting is adopted during seedling cultivation, the number can be increased to more than 20 plants."

However, during the final grain-filling stage, the rice must be separated and moved to an adjacent ripening workshop for thinning and targeted fertilization to ensure that the rice accumulates the maximum amount of dry matter under constant temperature, dry conditions, and abundant water and fertilizer.

"So this workshop is equivalent to the output of 10 mu of land. Does this workshop occupy 1 mu of land?"

“1.5 mu, including the surrounding facilities, but in reality, the area required to complete a planting process is 3.5 mu. If you only look at the number of plants, it is about 3 times that of normal planting,” Yelena explained.

"Because the ripening workshop is larger than this place, and when planting, the season is not taken into account. They are usually planted separately. For example, the bottom and the top are about two months apart. In this way, the ripening workshop can continuously receive new rice, ripen it, and release it. There is a stable yield all year round. If you have to calculate the yield per mu, the yield per mu in a single season may even be less than that of planting directly."

"However, a crop of rice can be produced every two and a half months, which actually adds up to a little more than three times. Of course, this is on the premise that the rice you grow normally grows this steadily."

"That's not true..." Lord Liang shook his head with a smile. It's definitely not true. It's not unusual for the yield of the upper and lower land to differ by a factor of two.

Not to mention that the rice variety here is probably not ordinary either. At the very least, he had never seen such a tall thing before. The planting frame was about 1.5 meters high, and the rice plants were tilted at a 30-degree angle, with the top just touching the bottom of the second layer.

In other words, this thing is at least 2 meters tall when straightened. If we consider that this is a plant that bends and droops, the height would be at least 2.2 meters or even 2.5 meters when planted on flat ground. Is this rice or a tree?

"Then you must have never seen our bamboo rice. However, that thing is an experimental product, it can't be eaten, it's just..." It's just someone's failed graduation project, the king of rice height is just a large bamboo stalk.

However, it no longer bears fruit. Instead, it is placed in the auditorium of the College of Agriculture, covered with a glass case. Its purpose is for each new student to visit and remember what they are there for. We should stop doing this kind of attention-seeking, pointless thing.

This thing, over four meters tall, doesn't produce any seeds at all, and is still growing upwards. It has lost the ability to reproduce through the roots of bamboo, producing neither seeds nor shoots, and has zero agricultural value.

However, it is very suitable for scaring new students and as a negative example—a textbook example of a basic mistake—don't assume that just because they are all grasses, you can randomly knock their genes together!

Old Xia even planned to keep this item and bring it on a Star Alliance ship in the future to show to the younger students at the Star Alliance Agricultural Academy; it might even make it into Star Alliance textbooks.

It's like a program that's made of a bunch of basic errors but still managed to get something out of the way—it's like a buggy program that can still run.

If the teaching affairs office hadn't taken pity on him and not written the student's name down, this person would probably have committed suicide because of the social death, right? Every time the development of agricultural science in Kazdel is mentioned, it gets dragged out and whipped again.

"Buy it!" Before Grand Tutor Liang could speak, the prince uttered the voice of a wealthy man, instantly plunging the entire inspection team into an awkward situation.

Brother, you have to be selective when buying goods and haggle a bit. This is a national-level introduction; even a small discount can bring in billions.

However, no one can say they won't buy it. Anyone who says they won't buy it will definitely be given a hard time and have a big grudge leveled against them.

After all, it was a prince who spoke up. How could a subject openly oppose such a matter of national importance and the people's livelihood? He would lose his reputation.

But to say you'll buy so readily... don't you know how much silver your national treasury and private coffers have left?

Chapter 74 Kazdel's Food Technology is the Best in the World

Chapter 74

After visiting the aeroponics factory, the next stop is the hydroponics factory, which mainly produces animal protein and fat raw materials.

It's more like a professional chemical plant than an agricultural sector than an aeroponics factory.

Animal protein and soy protein are used to manufacture food additives and synthesize various flavored protein bars for making ration food packages.

Fats have even more uses. In addition to trans fatty acids and saturated fatty acids used in the food industry, they are also used to manufacture chemical products such as soap and glycerin.

Therefore, the actual breeding area and industrial area are linked together, with two short-distance rail transit stations responsible for transporting various raw materials and finished products. The whole area looks like a factory area with chimneys and spherical storage tanks.

However, the Da Yan delegation, having gained experience from the aerosol factory, appeared quite calm this time.

After the usual disinfection and putting on protective clothing, we entered the breeding area. The factory is located in the lower level of the mobile city, and the staff passage is in the upper part of the breeding area. If you look down from here, there are rectangular pools under the overpass, with various pipes extending into the pool water, and sensors and control terminals extending to the operating platforms on both sides of the overpass.

The breeding pond is a sealed area where breeding has been completed. It can be completely pulled out by a crane, as if pulling out a long metal rod. Then, a crane will transport it to the processing workshop for further processing.

"This is the aquaculture area, which has eight by twelve, a total of 96 hydroponic aquaculture tanks," White Rabbit briefly introduced this area that provides raw materials for more than half of the city's industrial system.

“There are many such breeding workshops, but they are all the same size. Each breeding tank is 4 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 25 meters deep, which is about 600 cubic meters of space.”

"What can we raise in this little space? The color of this pond water looks off, and I don't see any food..." The pond water was emerald green, but the green was too intense.

"We cultivate algae and bacteria," Yelena explained. "We also raise aquatic insects and fast-growing fish. The fish are not raised here. The wastewater used here contains a large number of larvae, algae debris, and bacteria. It is usually put into other aquaculture workshops after inactivation treatment for the fish to grow and reproduce. The wastewater consumed by the fish, along with fish feces, fish viscera, and other waste products, is sent to the fermentation workshop to be processed into organic fertilizer."

"It can be said that from beginning to end, all the products were arranged properly with very little waste. It is suitable for use in cities where the area is not large but the consumption demand is huge, providing necessary supplies during natural disasters and relocation."

"What about energy consumption?" Yelena fell silent. Energy consumption was indeed the Achilles' heel. This technology was highly automated, which required highly skilled operators, but it also meant fewer people were needed. However, energy consumption was a problem.

"That's too advanced. Are there any slightly less advanced ones that don't need to be used in mobile cities?"

"Yes, come with me." Since the other party indicated that the technology was too advanced and not suitable for import—

After its introduction, it was the turn of those gentlemen to go bankrupt, especially those grain merchants with royal relatives as shareholders, who were likely to lose everything. Moreover, this overly advanced and energy-intensive system was indeed not suitable for the environment of the Great Yan.

Most importantly, the people of Dayan all thought that the small 4x6 meter pool was like a well, and that it couldn't possibly produce anything of great value.

So Yelena led them to the part built on the ground, a super-giant hydroponic pond that was 400 meters long, 250 meters wide, and 10 meters deep.

After all, hydroponics is a technology mainly used in space stations and spacecraft, and the culture tanks are generally not very large.

Otherwise, the standard model we just mentioned would have to hold 600 tons of water alone. If we include the contents, just one tank would weigh over 600 tons. If we include the external equipment, it would weigh at least 750 tons. The mass of a spaceship would increase dramatically if it were equipped with this thing.

As for the super-large hydroponic industry on the ground, it is one of the main projects of the Covenant's planetary development.

After all, there is no larger payload platform than a planet. Such a super-large pool, which would weigh more than a million tons, is almost impossible to place on a space station or a regular spacecraft. The payload would probably have to go to space.

"This is the hydroponic area, where we grow everything. It's a multi-layered system: the top layer is mainly aquatic plants, the middle layer is fish and algae, and the bottom layer is insects and bacteria. The water is then continuously filtered out and processed through the filtration and pumping system over there."

Yelena pointed to the pool and said, "The filtration system is at the bottom, which will filter out fish feces, bacteria and insects, ensuring that the microbial conditions in the pool are basically stable. These products will be processed into organic fertilizer, chicken and duck feed and animal protein."

"Wait, you mean those protein bars are made with..."

“According to our regulations, edible protein bars are made from fast-growing fish…” Yelena hesitated for a moment before saying, because the question raised by the other party was crucial. Indeed, protein bars could be made from the fat and protein extracted from these fungi, insects, and even fish feces.

Moreover, in terms of industrial standards, there is not much difference between them and edible protein bars; at the very least, they won't kill you.

Kazdel's industrial regulations definitely require the use of fast-growing fish to avoid microbial contamination and the removal of some unprocessed Originium particles and other toxic impurities.

However, given the utter lack of morality among the gentry of the Great Yan Dynasty, it's hard to say whether they will act in accordance with the rules after being brought in.

Even considering the upper limit of animal digestive capacity, human and animal excrement contains a large amount of undigested protein and fat, which can also be recycled, refined, and reused. However, Kazdel only theoretically possesses such substances. In reality, these are still used for fermentation to produce organic fertilizer.

"In addition, we also have other soilless hydroponic workshops..." which are the least technologically advanced, with large quantities of tomatoes, peas and onions growing on the water tanks.

Clearly, the people of Da Yan are more interested in this. The previous hydroponic tanks were too advanced, to the point of being a bit outdated, such as that pool full of bacterial broth.

Although both bacteria and insects are ruthless protein-producing machines, this understanding is still a bit premature for the people of Da Yan. Even though the other party has raised lotus flowers and fish on the upper level, they still find it hard to accept.

Moreover, from a public-spirited perspective, this system is far too complex. If it were to be widely adopted in Da Yan, it would likely take an extremely long time, and Kazdel's technical staff would have to travel frequently to maintain and resolve any issues.

"Okay, we can talk about the introduction..." This kind of hydroponics is relatively simple in technology, well, it's relatively simpler than the assembly line food production scenes we visited before.

Especially after visiting the protein strip production base配套 with the hydroponic factory, and seeing the high-quality protein strips being mass-produced on the assembly line as if screwing in screws, the Great Yan delegation, led by the prince, began to make insulting jokes about Lai.

The old master didn't laugh. He mustered his courage and tasted a seasoned protein strip that had just rolled out of the baking box on the production line. This kind of protein strip was a common relief food used on the front lines. In the packaging workshop next door, there were piles of folded cardboard boxes printed with "Civilian Disaster Relief Food Reserves" as high as mountains.

After finishing his meal, the old master remained silent for a long while, not participating in the jokes about Lai, but quietly observing the operation and flow speed of the entire production line. He silently estimated a number in his mind and was greatly surprised—

This industry must be developed with all our might and we must find ways to introduce it. Although it may not be suitable now, it must be introduced to Dayan in the future.

Because it contains a lot of synthetic flavorings and seasonings, it tastes a bit like crab and fish, and the saltiness and aroma are also quite strong. In the United States, it would probably be a high-quality snack that is not high-end but definitely not cheap, or a meat substitute for the common people.

"Lord Liang is interested in this?" Yelena noticed that the old man's expression was a little strange.

"Um, does your production line operate 24/7?"

"It was only in recent years that we put the entire production line into operation 24 hours a day..." In the past, supermarkets had enough chilled and cured meats to sell. Of course, no one would operate all of these. After producing enough for rotation, the main production capacity was used to stockpile military rations and military dog ​​feed.

In the last few years, when grain and meat reserves were depleted and manpower was insufficient to maintain traditional agriculture and animal husbandry, this system was put at full capacity to produce food for relief purposes.

"Is this how you harvest vegetables from your hydroponic tanks?"

"Yes, that's the freeze-dried vegetable and vitamin fortification workshop over there." For now, Kazdel hasn't used synthetic drugs or extracted vitamins for fortification.

However, the cookies they produce have started to include fish bone powder and cheap freeze-dried vegetable powder, instead of their original insistence on using natural ingredients.

To be honest, it took Lao Xia half a year to redesign this production line because the Covenant had never heard of any famine.

At its worst, the Stargate was damaged by a "Master Huang" and took more than two months to repair. The local colony had eaten up the last bit of organic food and consumed more than half of the tissue culture food. The colonial authorities then started distributing organic sauce as relief.

It's only the beginning; nobody's actually eating it. The local tissue culture plants and factories at all levels that didn't originally produce food for residents are just temporarily switching to other products. The Star Alliance hasn't encountered a situation where both reserve meat and grain are depleted and an emergency has to be implemented yet—well, spaceship crashes are another matter, but the colonies haven't experienced this yet.

This means that Lao Xia didn't have the equipment for producing the additives for relief biscuits at all, so he had to design it from scratch. Fortunately, although there was no time when he needed to use it.

However, the relevant professional knowledge is a required course that has been studied, so it's unlikely that we'll falter in this area.

Freeze-dried vegetables and various edible algae are pressed into green dry cakes, then ground and added to the biscuits in the baking workshop after several processes, and finally pressed into the kind of relief bread or relief biscuits distributed in Letania.

Unleavened bread, once cooled, is not much different from biscuits. If you really want to say something, you could even use it as bricks to build a house. When you want to eat it, you need to grind it up or saw it open with a handsaw and then soak it in soup to soften it.

As for the taste, as I've already mentioned, it's the kind of awful that makes you scream from the depths of your soul. This product is the predecessor of Star Alliance Organic Sauce.

Because it was so unpalatable, they switched to organic sauce—which, in turn, became a torture device.

However, compared to organic sauce, it does have some advantages. This stuff is extremely unpalatable when eaten dry, so unpalatable that it makes you want to scream.

However, for organic sauces that become worse the more seasoning they are, to the point that the logistics department simply gives up on them, this cookie, which is called a "mystery thing," can at least solve some of its unpalatability issues through seasoning.

Of course, when it comes time to eat this, where to find honey, jam, or spiced soup to flavor it is another problem. The old master took a bite and his face turned green.

However, after a staff member handed him a jar of black bee honey, he managed to force himself to eat a piece of it.

"If this stuff is distributed, won't the people below rebel?" The Grand Tutor certainly didn't expect that those who ate it would also get honey. So, his first thought was, "If this stuff is distributed, won't the people below rebel?"

"So, we've prepared instant soup packets..." Yelena said expressionlessly, "They'll be fine to send out together with the instant soup packets."

Instant soup packets are basically just soy sauce cubes, MSG, and a tiny bit of artificial flavoring—the cost is incredibly low. But they're a perfect match for these hard biscuits, and that's what Letanian refugees are eating now.

The local garrison showed great "closeness between the military and the people" by sending truckloads of this relief food to every refugee camp and relief point, which made the locals feel extremely flattered.

It's always the puppets of the occupying forces who are forced to provide supplies to the locals; it's never the case that the occupying forces would distribute supplies and relief from their own camps to the locals. As for the ins and outs and secrets behind this, outsiders have no way of knowing.

"How about we purchase a batch of your instant soup packet production lines?" The military rations of the Great Yan Dynasty are also quite advanced, and they also have a similar instant soup mix manufacturing industry.