Chapter 304: Flying Carp; Red Fire Ant; Davis (asking for a monthly ticket!)

Red fire ants are very adaptable. After being invaded, few countries or regions can completely eliminate the small fire ants.

The tiny red fire ants have a lack of natural enemies and are found throughout the southern United States.

They can be found on the lawns in parks, in the grass on both sides of the roads, in the vast farmlands, and in the open spaces around village houses.

Farmers, construction workers, landscaping workers... these people who work in the wild day and night like industrious ants are the most common victims of red fire ants.

Even among all the invasive plants and animals in the world, the red fire ant ranks at the top.

It is easy to kill an ant, but it is difficult to kill a whole nest of ants.

There can be 20 to 40 red fire ants in an ant nest. Once disturbed, they swarm out in a complete army-like combat mode.

The red fire ant's home is in the Amazon rainforest in South America. It is a very common species in the rainforest and has dozens of natural enemies that can keep it in check.

But who dares to introduce these natural enemies easily?
The harsh living environment in the Amazon has also enabled red fire ants to hone their skills.

Faced with floods, thousands of red fire ants will press their bodies together to form a strong and dense "life raft".

After the "life raft" is formed, a part of the red fire ants will float on the water, supporting the entire colony and escorting the red fire ants on it to drift across the water to a safe place.

Although the positions can be rotated, during the long drift, some red fire ants will always drown due to lack of air for a long time, sacrificing themselves for the entire ant colony.

And they are smart enough to hold on to any branches along the way as a lifeline during their long migration journey.

Flooding, fire, poisonous powder...

But red fire ants can quickly crawl down along the underground passages, hide deeper, or escape directly from the underground passages.

The Americans have tried many methods, but the red fire ants have not been controlled.

Therefore, the tiny ants are called: the invincible army.

After reading some American reports about red fire ants, Guo Yang couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling.

Not only is agriculture damaged, but red fire ants also build nests in street lights, power telecommunications, traffic signals and other facilities. The dead insects often cause short circuits and even fires.

But if we want to do something, we still have to start with agriculture.

This thing eats earthworms, which is harmful to the soil and also poses a threat to crops, so we should still start from these two directions.

Guo Yang looked at the American agricultural map again.

Although the central and southern regions are large plains, they belong to arid zone agriculture, and the main crops are cotton, soybeans, corn, wheat, potatoes, etc.

The soil is relatively shallow.

After years of farming, the soil has been exposed, causing serious nutrient loss, and rocks have been exposed in some areas.

In order to protect arable land, the Americans have also been promoting agricultural technologies such as shallow tillage, no-tillage, and straw covering in these areas in recent years.

In this case, let the red fire ants be more destructive to the soil and their immunity to chemical pesticides be stronger.

Guo Yang had a direction in his mind.

At the same time, it is inevitable to wonder whether the country has been invaded by this thing.

Thinking of this, Guo Yang could no longer sit still and immediately wanted to contact someone in China to ask, but who should he contact?

Guo Yang pondered for a while and finally called Zhu Jie at the Jiangsu Province Rice Research Institute. Red fire ants can cause harm to rice fields.

It was already past 11 o'clock in China. When Zhu Jie and his wife were dozing off in bed, a phone call woke them both up.

"Who is this? Calling me in the middle of the night."

Zhu Jie was also a little grumpy at waking up, but when he saw the incoming call, his expression changed.

"It's the big boss of Jiahe Group. Don't say anything yet. I'll take it first."

Soon, Guo Yang's voice came in.

"Director Zhu, I have something to ask you. Have red fire ants been found in China?"

Zhu Jie thought for a moment and said, "Yes, I think there were reports of fire ants in Guangdong two years ago."

“But I heard it’s under control.”

"Under control?" After reading the information, Guo Yang didn't know whether to believe it or not.

"I haven't noticed any reports like this recently. How about this? I'll go back to the institute tomorrow and ask someone about it."

Zhu Jie added: "Boss Guo, please come to Tiaozini again sometime. The sea rice is growing very well this year!"

"Okay, come when you have time."

Seeing Zhu Jie still looking unsatisfied, his wife asked curiously, "Who is it that makes you take it so seriously?"

“A leading figure in domestic agriculture.”

“They are the ones who invented the sea rice seeds.”

Chicago.

When Guo Yang learned that red fire ants had appeared in China, he knew that things were a little troublesome.

These tiny ants are a top invasive species, far more harmful than tilapia, red-eared slider turtles, lucky bamboo, lucky grass, water hyacinth, crayfish, etc.

If these newly bred red fire ants flow into the country again, it would be a loss.

There has to be a way to deal with it.

Guo Yang quickly thought of using natural enemies, local natural enemies, rather than natural enemies in the Amazon rainforest.

He immediately called Xu Xuenong again, and Xu Xuenong answered the call immediately, probably because he was still awake.

Night owl!

But Xu Xuenong did not have much contact with red fire ants and only said he would check it out.

Early the next morning, Zhu Jie and Xu Xuenong sent the information they had collected.

The earliest report of red fire ants in China was in 2004, when a red fire ant injury occurred in Wuchuan, Guangdong.

But Xu Xuenong contacted an entomology expert from South China Agricultural University, who deduced that red fire ants had arrived in Shenzhen by ship across the sea in the 90s.

Traces of red fire ants have been found in many provinces in the country.

Some prevention and control methods have also been summarized in China.

In addition to chemical and physical elimination, the most effective natural enemy is the yellow dragonfly, which can prey on the queen ants of red fire ants on their mating flight after the spring rains.

Once the queen ant is eaten, the entire nest of red fire ants is doomed.

However, the yellow dragonfly also eats the center bee, and it has a large appetite and is agile, so the center bee cannot escape its hunting. Many domestic beekeepers have suffered losses as a result.

If too much is invested, the center will suffer.

But there are also methods of using poisons to lure and kill the queen ants of ant colonies. Perhaps OmniKing Biology can do research in this area.

Guo Yang gradually had an idea in his mind.

It will be easier to deal with it once we have a direction, and the newly bred red fire ants should not appear in the country so soon.

After having a Chinese breakfast at the hotel in the morning, Guo Yang and Luo Xiu, led by Li Yang, an employee stationed in the United States, rushed to Tianhe’s breeding station.

We passed many large farms on the way, and the land on the plains was comfortable to look at.

The spring wheat has been harvested and the summer corn is still growing vigorously.

After driving for more than two hours, we finally arrived at the Illinois River in the suburbs.

Tianhe’s corn breeding station is located here. The farm is not large, with only a few dozen acres of land, but it is enough for breeding.

Today's target was Asian carp, so Guo Yang didn't stay on the farm for long.

The Illinois River connects the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes and was one of the first areas to be overrun by Asian carp.

Today, the river is densely populated with Cypriniformes fish such as black carp, grass carp, silver carp and bighead carp.

The huge population snatches a large amount of food from the mouths of native fish, making it impossible for native fish to survive. This is one of the important environmental issues that the federal and local governments are concerned about.

Various methods have been developed to eliminate Asian carp, including poisoning, installing electric fences, etc.

If you fish here, you can easily break the record.

However, Guo Yang did not come here to fish, as the fishing procedures here were too complicated. Fortunately, someone had already developed a way to shoot Asian carp with bows and arrows.

Ivan Hodge, a local employee of the farm, had already rented two slightly larger boats in advance.

I have to say that the density of fish in the river is really high. As soon as the boat set out, frightened fish jumped out of the water.

But the fish at the bottom of the water are the target.

Guo Yang familiarized himself with the bow and arrow, chose the right moment, and shot an arrow, but unfortunately it missed.

Luo Xiu, who was on the same boat, caught a large golden carp that was at least forty to fifty centimeters long.

Luo Xiu took the fish back and said, "This is the best of the best. Such a big wild carp is not common in China."

Guo Yang smiled and said, "The domestic electricians are so good that it's hard to find small fish and shrimp in the river without protection."

After trying two or three times in a row, Guo Yang soon reaped the rewards.

The density of fish is so high that you can catch quite a few even if you guess randomly.

And they are all very big, any one of them weighs twenty or thirty kilograms.

The power of the bow and arrow is quite strong, and it can basically shoot through the target with one arrow. This primitive hunting method also makes Guo Yang feel very excited.

Luo Xiu said: "This feels much more fun than fishing, but it's a pity that we can't do this in China."

“Everyone has their own fun.”

“But it’s built on other people’s suffering.”

In a short while, the two easily harvested dozens of fish, including silver carp, bighead carp, black carp and grass carp.

Guo Yang was also observing the habits of these fish and thinking about how to start.

Asian carp have amazing reproductive capacity and no natural enemies, so there are no obstacles for them in the existing watersheds.

But to prevent Asian carp from swimming into other watersheds, the federal government has set up many electric fences along the river.

While this did not stop Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes, it did help.

Guo Yang observed for a while. In China, there is a saying that carp can jump over the dragon gate, but in this river, the silver carp, which are easily frightened, are better at jumping.

This silver carp has amazing athletic ability. Not only can it jump over obstacles more than 3 meters high, it can even jump out of the water and fly 6 to 7 meters.

Sometimes if you are not careful, you may get hurt easily.

Guo Yang suddenly had an idea.

Since it wants to fly, let it fly more fiercely and reproduce faster.

Soon, Guo Yang obtained some fish eggs from the captured Asian carp, and then calmly released the cultivated fry into the river.

Maybe it's not as harmful as the caltrops, or maybe it's an ecological problem that has already occurred, so the natural energy consumed this time is not as high as last time.

So Guo Yang did not hesitate to cultivate one each of carp, silver carp and bighead carp in addition to silver carp.

[Species]: Silver carp
[Characteristics]: Compared with ordinary silver carp, it has a fiercer temperament, a stronger appetite, a larger body, jumps higher, flies farther, has a fierce impact force, and is extremely unfriendly to small ships...

Carp and silver carp and bighead carp have similar properties. Although they will not affect America’s inland waterway navigation, they increase the difficulty of control.

They can fly and jump. If we want to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes and other rivers, the interception facilities must become more and more advanced.

If it is to be intercepted, inland waterway shipping will be inevitably affected.

The Mississippi River covers nearly 40% of the land in the United States. Thanks to this river, farmers can transport agricultural products such as corn, wheat and soybeans to New Orleans, and then export them to all parts of the world by sea.

This can be regarded as a strengthening of the four major grain traders.

There are now 3532 points of natural energy left.

Guo Yang estimated that the existing energy was only enough to transform the two existing plants and animals, red fire ants and dodder.

After just one morning's work, Guo Yang not only achieved his goal, but also harvested a large bucket full of Asian carp.

There is no small one that can be shot.

Luo Xiu exclaimed in admiration, "This bucket is estimated to be at least 500 kilograms. Now what should we do with all this fish?"

"Let Li Yang and Ivan take care of it later. We have to rush to the next place, but I guess it should be sold to the feed factory."

"Boss, do you think it's profitable to sell these carps back to China? China is good at eating silver carp."

"Of course I can make some money, but this is money earned with a clear conscience. Do you think this river is clean?"

“I can’t really explain it, but it looks pretty clear.”

"Heavy metal pollution is very serious," said Guo Yang. "The area near this river is the main agricultural area of ​​the United States. Countless pesticides and fertilizers are used. Pesticides and fertilizers from farmland flow into the river, and the water body has long been eutrophic."

Now, Luo Xiu no longer talked about eating Asian carp. Li Yang's boat also harvested a lot, and Ivan Hodge whistled, obviously very satisfied with this activity.

"Li Yang, I'll leave this fish to you. My boss and I will go take a look. We have to go to Texas tomorrow."

"Texas? Is the company going to start research and development of cotton seeds?"

"The boss wants to see the animal husbandry over there."

When he returned to the city, it was already past three in the afternoon. Guo Yang made a special trip to the street where the Chicago Board of Trade was located.

The buildings on both sides are towering, but the street is not wide. A Union Jack is hung under the tower clock on the building.

"Want to stop and take a look, boss?"

"No need." Guo Yang said.

“Agricultural product speculation has intensified, causing an imbalance between supply and demand, rising agricultural product prices, and farmers making huge profits through exports.”

"Coupled with the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, it can be said that the U.S. has staged and directed an export drama in the international agricultural product market."

Luo Xiu listened to his boss mumbling and seemed to be thinking about something.

A day later, Houston, an international metropolis and the largest city in Texas.

After coming out of the airport, it was already afternoon, so I couldn’t go to the farm today.

Guo Yang said, "Is there a Rockets game tonight? Let's go see Yao Ming?"

"The finals were played two days before the game." Luo Xiu said helplessly: "The young emperor was swept by the Spurs."

"What a pity! We should have come to San Antonio earlier to watch the game." Guo Yang said with regret.

There is no other reason, I just want to hear with my own ears what Duncan said to James: The future is yours.

Unable to watch the game, Guo Yang and Luo Xiu went to see China City in Houston, but there didn't seem to be anything special. They took a quick look at it in the car and then returned to the hotel.

Texas has a developed agriculture industry with farms everywhere, mainly producing cotton. Its animal husbandry is also the best in the United States.

The development of beef cattle, pigs, sheep and livestock has also driven the demand for forage here, mainly alfalfa.

However, alfalfa is mainly imported from northwestern states such as California, Idaho, and Nevada.

Guo Yang also took this opportunity to investigate and learn about American agricultural practices. This may be the only chance.

He may never set foot on this land again.

The social service system of American agriculture is indeed well developed. You can do it yourself or ask a service company to handle the entire process for you.

But what impressed Guo Yang most was the rapid development of organic farms in the suburbs of big cities such as Houston.

Visit the farm and pick strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries; in addition to picking, you can also buy home-grown eggs, honey, and vegetables.

Some farms also offer children opportunities to ride ponies, ride tractors, and have small playgrounds, making them a great place to bring children.

After checking the data, I found that the area of ​​organic agricultural products in the United States has reached more than 2400 million acres this year, and is still growing rapidly.

The soil conditions on these carefully managed farms are indeed much better, and even red fire ants are relatively rare.

But on more large farms, due to climate change, surface water reduction, seawater intrusion, and the Great Plains in the central and southern parts of the country are also experiencing a serious trend of salinization.

In some severely damaged soybean fields, after pulling up the soybeans, it was found that the roots were bare and nothing was growing.

All the nodules were eaten by red fire ants.

Soybeans are nitrogen-fixing crops that rely on rhizobia for nutrients. Without rhizobia, the soybeans grown will be small in quantity and poor in quality.

There is no question of nitrogen fixation.

After some plants bloom, red fire ants will eat or drive away the pollinating insects, resulting in a significant decrease in the pollination rate.

Only after witnessing this destructiveness personally can you have a deeper understanding of the disaster it causes.

On a wasteland more than 100 meters away from the road, there are hundreds of anthills densely distributed, with an ant nest at every step.

In the wild sunlight, red fire ants are bright brown-red, with two abdominal stalk segments at the junction of the thorax and abdomen.

Although the red fire ants are very powerful, they still have good martial ethics. They always follow the principle of "I will not attack others unless they are attacked".

Look, Guo Yang just stood aside and didn't provoke it, so nothing happened.

But once the anthill is poked open, thousands and thousands of red fire ants swarm in like a tide, biting everything they come into contact with. It is very scary.

If you zoom in on it, it's actually a smaller version of a crayfish.

But being pinched by a crayfish is just painful, while being bitten by a red fire ant is not only painful, but can also cause poisonous sores and pus, and can even be fatal.

Fortunately, Guo Yang used the seed store to capture some powerful red fire ants.

Once they reached a safe place, they started cultivating it immediately. After a while of tinkering, an enhanced version of the red fire ant appeared.

[Species]: Red Fire Ant
[Characteristic 1]: Evolved from the red fire ant, it can cause devastating damage to soil microorganisms and is the natural enemy of all crops.

[Characteristic 2]: It has extremely strong vitality and is highly resistant to existing chemical agents. Perhaps it can only be killed by special plant ingredients.

[Natural Energy]: 1623 (has a tendency to maliciously destroy the ecological environment).

The seemingly simple introduction made Guo Yang feel more at ease.

First, after seeing the hazards at the scene, I knew how terrifying this guy was;
Second, based on natural energy, we can infer that the intensity of harm caused by Tribulus terrestris is slightly lower than that of red fire ants, but it is also on the same level.

Such power is exciting.

Having completed another goal, Guo Yang didn't dare to stay any longer and wanted to return to China immediately.

However, less than half a month later, he and Luo Xiu returned to California, which is also one of the main producing areas of alfalfa in the United States.

Guo Yang also went to inspect the alfalfa farm.

Compared with alfalfa farming and animal husbandry, California's alfalfa production methods are more modern and require less labor.

The industrial system is also more complete. During the production process of alfalfa seeds, honey, alfalfa juice drinks and alfalfa sprouts are also developed.

Many people bought it, so the output value should be good.

In the United States, being a farmer is a really good profession.

Originally, the world's food supply was relatively balanced, or even exceeded demand. However, the United States has strong control over agricultural product prices and agricultural product imports and exports.

The biggest cause of the impending food crisis comes from the United States.

Large amounts of surplus food are being used to make biofuels to combat rising oil prices.

The rise in agricultural product prices has brought hardship to the poor and enriched farmers.

The longer Guo Yang stays here, the more he can feel the vitality of the American agricultural economy.

The food crisis is a tool used by the Americans to shift the subprime mortgage crisis.

Guo Yang has a feeling that the impact of the real estate bubble in California, Michigan, Florida and other places is expected to be offset by agricultural growth.

In comparison, Jiahe’s profit from this wave of growth is only a small part.

If you want to make a lot of money, you still have to lure this group of people to cause trouble in China.

But Guo Yang kept in mind that this mission was to cause trouble for American agriculture.

It’s just that the American alfalfa farm is really good at controlling dodder. He visited several farms but couldn’t collect suitable seeds.

The first day was fruitless and we returned to the hotel in Los Angeles.

After finishing some necessary work at home, Guo Yang stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the night view. The lights in the city made the stars in the sky pale in comparison.

After being in a daze for a while, the phone suddenly rang. It was my mentor Weng Lixin.

"Guo Yang, have you been to North America?"

"Yes, I'm in Los Angeles right now." Guo Yang asked, "Teacher, what can I do for you?"

"It just so happens that Professor Putnam of the University of California, Davis, found me through his connections and hopes to invite you to the school in the name of academic exchange."

Weng Lixin said: "It's difficult for the school to refuse this matter, but it still depends on your willingness."

Guo Yang was of course aware of the Davis University. The national scholarship he originally received was for further studies at the Davis University, and was later given to Chen Yunpeng.

Davis was originally an agricultural college and only developed into a comprehensive university after being incorporated into the University of California system.

Its majors such as botany, grassland science, and agricultural science are consistently ranked among the top three in the world.

Guo Yang said: "No problem, teacher, but academically, I may be a little worse."

"You're not even close to that?" Weng Lixin was still merciless when he started to criticize him, saying, "You're not even willing to get a PhD."

“It’s mainly because I’m too busy.”

Weng Lixin said, "It's okay. Professor Putnam just wants to exchange breeding experience. This kind of thing requires persistence and luck. Just communicate truthfully."

Tell the truth? Can you tell me? Guo Yang looked strange. Alfalfa No. 1 was cultivated through a seed store.

Weng Lixin continued, "The other party may also have ideas about Alfalfa No. 1, but since it is in the name of academic exchange, they should not force it."

"After all, no one knows whether Alfalfa 1 can adapt to the geographical conditions of North America."

"Okay, teacher."

"I'll send you the contact information later. Be careful out there."

……

The city of Davis has a very good geographical environment. It is part of California's golden zone and is relatively close to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento.

The school's environment is also in line with the style of an agricultural college.

The surrounding area is vast farmland, dotted with various experimental sites and rich in natural resources.

A small city with beautiful scenery.

Professor Putnam demonstrated their scientific research results in an approximately 1000-acre experimental field at the Davis campus.

There are improved alfalfa varieties, various irrigation measures, harvesting equipment, and forage storage and transportation.

Guo Yang praised: "Amazing results."

Professor Putnam is a friendly old white man with slightly long white hair fluttering in the wind.

"We also have salt-tolerant alfalfa varieties, but Barnes said that Jiahe's alfalfa No. 1 is not only of high quality, but also surprisingly tolerant to saline-alkali soil."

Barnes? Barnes from Netero? Guo Yang had a rough idea.

However, it seems that Barnes is more concerned about the quality of alfalfa and may not have paid much attention to its effect on improving saline-alkali soil.

Jiahe did a good job of keeping confidentiality regarding the data changes in saline-alkali soil. Even Su Guozhou, Dr. Zhou and others only knew the data from the previous two years.

"Yes, Alfalfa No. 1 is indeed an excellent variety."

Guo Yang began to make up a story that was half true and half false.

"The breeding of Alfalfa No. 1 took a long time. Around 1959, my teacher's teacher began to breed alfalfa that could grow in saline-alkali land to improve the soil and produce high-quality alfalfa hay."

"I have been guarding it for 30 years, from winter to summer."

“In 1989, my teacher joined the team, and a few years later, I also joined the team.”

"The teachers have achieved a lot of results one after another. I just stood on the foundation laid by my predecessors and relied on some luck to achieve the final results."

Putnam said: "Your persistence and hard work are worth it. Alfalfa breeding is a long process."

Putnam seems willing to believe this traditional story. The scientific research team has been guarding the alfalfa in the saline-alkali land year after year, and finally reaped the rewards.

Guo Yang thought he understood the professor and continued to tell the stories that had been told to death by his mentor.

"One autumn, there was a sudden heavy rain, and our experiment was ruined. This happens every few years."

"In addition to floods, there are also droughts. If the rains don't come in time after spring sowing, the seedlings won't grow, and that year's work will be in vain."

"Pests and diseases are also a problem. One autumn, there was an outbreak of leaf moths, and our alfalfa test plot was completely eaten up overnight!"

Putnam said: "These are all normal, keep doing it and keep working."

"Yes, later the breeding team discovered that disasters are not all bad things. If there is flooding, we can select varieties that are more resistant to flooding; if there is drought, we can select varieties that are more resistant to drought."

"This gave us a lot to think about. Although variety breeding aims to enhance a certain trait, various traits should be integrated as much as possible during the breeding process. For example, salt- and alkali-tolerant varieties should also be waterlogging-resistant, drought-resistant, disease-resistant, and high-yielding."

Putnam showed admiration in his eyes and said with a smile: "So, the varieties bred in this way have the best overall quality."

The two of them exchanged breeding experiences and had a lot of common topics.

Finally, Putnam made his intention clear.

"Guo, such excellent seeds, Davis University wants to introduce them from Jiahe, and the two sides can carry out more extensive cooperation."

(End of this chapter)