Chapter 309: Trichogramma; Jiujia Integration
"Boss, the first batch of trichogrammatids are going to be released for the first time. Do you want to go and take a look?"

Xu Xuenong asked, the Trichogramma has been studied in China for many years and is a relatively mature natural enemy insect, so it has been bred relatively successfully.

He had been busy with this matter since he came back from Pengcheng more than ten days ago.

Guo Yang looked up in surprise, amazed at the speed of breeding of Trichogramma.

Putting down the information about drought conditions in various places in his hand, Guo Yang thought it would be a good idea to go and take a look, and check the drought situation at the same time.

Guo Yang first came to the natural enemy factory.

It is built in the building of Tianhe Science Academy, occupying an entire floor, about 3000 square meters, with an annual production capacity of more than 10 billion heads.

This production capacity is relatively low.

Because it is still more experimental at the moment.

In addition to production, it also undertakes the task of screening and breeding natural enemy insects.

Trichogrammatids are smaller than bees, with adults less than 1mm long.

During pest outbreaks, release trichogrammatids, which will lay their eggs inside the eggs of the host pests.

During the growth and development of the larvae, the nutrients in the host eggs are consumed, thus solving the problem of the pests' rapid reproduction at the root.

It has a wide host range and is effective in controlling agricultural pests such as corn borers, rice borers, and sugarcane borers.

Many plant protection institutes in China have conducted research on it, and breeding and selection work has continued for decades.

But it is still limited to screening out suitable bee species from existing bee species.

Screening of superior strains, screening of resistant strains, screening of hardy strains...this kind of basic work has accumulated a lot of experience.

For example, the Trichogrammatid wasp is the dominant bee species for controlling the Chilo suppressalis borer in rice fields.

However, further efforts have been made to hybridize the superior genes between species and cultivate superior bee species that can specifically attack different pests.

With the help of Tianhe’s accumulation of bioengineering in recent years, the Natural Enemies Center will also carry out research in this area.

"In addition to trichogrammatids, predatory mites can also be put into production, but grass ridges, ladybugs and yellow dragonflies are still being studied in the laboratory."

"well-done."

Guo Yang encouraged the researchers.

...

July every year is the peak period for corn borer.

In midsummer, the corn stalks stand tall and straight in Jinta's seed corn fields.

Under the lush corn forest, the soil of the corn field is turned over. The well-developed root system is firmly rooted in the soil, constantly absorbing nutrients.

But today's protagonist is not the fertile soil that everyone is familiar with.

Several technical experts who were invited from the Plant Protection Institute of the Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences watched two plant protection drones take off into the sky and drop pellets the size of ping-pong balls.

The mood is a little complicated.

The tiny bullet contains today's protagonist - the parasitic eggs of the Trichogrammatid wasp.

They will hatch and emerge quickly, then accurately find the corn borer eggs and surround and kill the corn borer.

Tianhe’s equipment and technical means are becoming more and more advanced.

"Director Wang, can trichogrammatids really eliminate corn borers?"

"No problem. Besides, this is Tianhe's corn seed field. With the corn growing like this, as long as we keep the water flowing, it will be hard not to have a good harvest this year."

"Only Tianhe has the confidence to use such a large seed-producing field for experiments."

On the other hand, Tianhe’s production manager Yan Qun was also full of worries and kept asking Xu Xuenong questions.

"Director Xu, this stretch of land covers nearly 10,000 mu. If we can't prevent corn borers, we'll suffer heavy losses this year."

“The prevention and treatment effect should not be bad.”

Xu Xuenong walked confidently into the cornfield at the edge and searched for a while, then waved his hand.

Everyone gathered around.

Xu Xuenong gently pried open the corn leaves with his fingers, revealing black speckled substances.

"This is a fresh corn borer egg mass, laid within two days."

"After the trichogrammatid wasps are released, they will come out within two days to find fresh corn borer egg masses and lay their eggs inside the corn borer egg masses, using eggs to treat eggs, thus achieving a biological control effect."

"This is only the first time to release the bees. We will release them again every five days, for three consecutive times."

"It is the peak period for corn borer egg-laying recently. The 'flooding' release of trichogrammatids is the most effective in controlling corn borer."

"Especially for borer pests that feed in hidden locations, trichogrammatid wasps are much more effective than spraying pesticides."

“This will also improve the quality of the corn.”

A technician in charge of field management said: "This is a seed field. The requirements for corn quality are not high. It would be fine if it is fresh corn."

Guo Yang, who was listening on the side, took notice and thought that it was fresh corn, which he might try if he had the chance.

Xu Xuenong was also stunned. This seed-producing field was originally used by Tianhe to support the natural enemy center.

Fortunately, Yan Qun rescued the situation.

"It would be a good thing to use less pesticides and reduce the pollution to the land. This piece of land is rare and good soil."

After several years of improvement with Alfalfa No. 1, the fertility of this land has exceeded Yan Qun's imagination.

I have been engaged in seed production for decades, but I have never seen corn grow so vigorously.

If drought had not cast a shadow, what would the per-acre yield be this year?

Yan Qun looked at Director Wang of the Plant Protection Institute again and said, "Director Wang, this ecological prevention technology must be promoted vigorously!"

"The technology is excellent." Director Wang also smiled and asked, "I wonder how much it costs to invest one acre of land?"

Guo Yang and others also looked at Xu Xuenong curiously.

“The cost should be much lower than chemical control.”

Xu Xuenong pondered for a while and said, "Release 10,000 bees per acre. Use two beehive release devices each time, and three times will be six bees."

"If large-scale production of trichogrammatids is achieved, the cost of placing beehives per mu should be controlled at 2.5 to 3 yuan."

Director Wang asked in surprise, "Can it be so low?"

Xu Xuenong nodded affirmatively.

Now even Guo Yang, Yan Qun and others couldn't help but be surprised. What is the cost of using chemical pesticides for prevention and control?

One acre would cost at least several dozen yuan!

Director Wang said: "If the effect is good and the input-output ratio is high, the city will definitely take the lead in vigorously promoting it."

"Then Director Wang, come back and have a look in a few days."

"I will definitely come." Director Wang thought for a moment and said, "Next time I release the bees, I will bring the local reporters with me. Director Xu, please do an interview with me."

"it is good."

...

“Is the cost per mu really less than 3 yuan?”

"3 yuan is already very high. I have also included the profit, so the actual cost is less than half. If I use bee cards instead of bee balls, the cost per mu may be only or cents."

This left Guo Yang silent.

Xu Xuenong, who looks honest and upright, turns out to be so scheming. He knows how to raise the price in front of the Plant Protection Institute.

"What about the effect?"

Xu Xuenong glanced at Yan Qun and said, "It takes a long time to take effect, and it is very particular about the conditions for releasing bees. The effect is definitely not as good as chemical pesticides."

Seeing that Yan Qun was about to change his attitude, Xu Xuenong added: "But the input-output ratio is very high."

Yan Qun asked: "Does this mean that production will still be reduced?"

"Old Yan, don't worry about it." Guo Yang looked at the scorching sun outside the car window and said, "This year's drought means a reduction in production is inevitable. It's good to provide more experimental value."

"Alas, it hasn't rained for almost a month."

Xu Xuenong said: "We can come back the day after tomorrow to see the effect of the launch. In this kind of weather, there should be no problem."

...

The sun shines brightly for two days in a row.

The hot temperature made the grassroots employees complain bitterly. Guo Yang also felt uncomfortable after working in the countryside for two days.

As soon as you get off the car, it won't take more than ten minutes before you're soaked all over.

What is worrying is that the drought situation for crops is becoming increasingly serious. The farmland can no longer retain moisture and the earth is dry.

Incidents of fighting over water in farmland are common.

In places farther away from the river, some farmers simply gave up struggling and decided to leave everything to fate, as the reduction in production was inevitable.

What Guo Yang is worried about is that the harvest will end up being completely lost.

By watering the crops sufficiently for winter, we were able to prevent spring drought, but we failed to prevent summer drought. The autumn harvest is approaching, and if the crops are completely lost at this time, the loss will be the greatest.

Jiahe’s land has also been affected, but large enterprises have some advantages. They can extract groundwater and have water-saving methods such as drip irrigation, so they can still hold on.

The farmers are in dire straits.

In any case, Guo Yang came to the seed production site of Jinta again.

It may be because the organic matter in the soil has increased and the soil structure has changed, so the water retention capacity of the soil in these 200,000 acres of land is obviously stronger.

Occasional drip irrigation can go a long way.

The drought is not that severe.

No one from the Plant Protection Institute came this time, only Guo Yang, Xu Xuenong, and Yan Qun came. Xu Xuenong was the first to find the eggs of the corn borer.

"The eggs of corn borer are black, but they turn white after the trichogrammatid wasps lay their eggs."

Both Guo Yang and Yan Qun saw the changes in the insect eggs, which meant that the corn borers were eliminated before they hatched.

Xu Xuenong smiled and said, "Boss Yan, you should feel relieved now, right?"

Yan Qun also smiled and said, "Not bad, but the requirement for bee release time is too high. If we want to use it on a large scale in the future, we need the Natural Enemy Center to send people to assist."

“That’s what the Natural Enemy Center does.”

"We also need to focus on training management personnel," Guo Yang said. "The life of a trichogrammatid wasp is too short."

The life span of a trichogrammatid wasp, from egg to death, is only 15 days, and after hatching, it can only survive for 3 to 4 days.

During these 3 to 4 days, they have to eliminate corn borers and reproduce offspring, which is even more difficult than the 996 work schedule of office workers.

It is also for this reason that adult Trichogrammae are not used directly in production.

Instead, the parasitic eggs of Trichogramma are regulated under artificial breeding conditions so that they reach the standard of hatching at the appropriate time.

Therefore, the timing of bee release is very important.

The time to release bees depends on insect forecast, insect monitoring and climatic conditions. Based on the results of the insect survey, a bee release plan is made to ensure that the bee eggs meet.

Pest monitoring is generally the job of local plant protection institutes.

However, Jiahe Natural Enemy Center is already available, and it involves the actual use of each section, so the insect information release must keep up.

So Xu Xuenong took it over directly, as this was within the scope of responsibility of the Natural Enemy Center.

"With the insect monitoring of the natural enemy center, we will have more information to refer to when to spray pesticides in the future. By the way, will other pesticides kill the trichogrammatids in the future?" Yan Qun asked.

"It's better to wait until after this period of time."

Guo Yang thought of screening Trichogrammatids, and hybridizing and screening dominant, resistant and tolerant strains.

In addition to the trichogrammatid wasp, there are a series of other natural enemy insects.

There are so many places where natural energy can be used!
Guo Yang thought for a moment and said, "Let's start mass production as soon as possible. One billion is still too few. We need to produce at least 10 billion per year."

If 1 trichogrammatids are released per acre, 500 billion trichogrammatids can only be released on 500 million acres of land.

Tianhe can affect much more land areas than this.

Moreover, in addition to corn, trichogrammatids can also be used to deal with pests of crops such as cotton, rice, sugarcane, soybeans, etc.

“Well, we are already planning the site selection.”

Guo Yang thought for a moment and said, "Let's compile a list of breeding goals so that we can have a research and development direction."

"Give me a copy once you have it sorted out."

...

I went to the countryside for several days in a row.

The weather is still not good, there is no sign of rain.

Even clouds and mist are hard to see, and even the opportunity to set off artificial rain cannons is rare. On the banks of the Beida River, water resources in various river sections have also been managed more strictly, and patrol law enforcement personnel are constantly appearing.

In addition to agricultural irrigation water in the lower reaches of the Beida River, Jiugang and power stations in the upper reaches are also major water consumers.

The conflict between industrial and agricultural water use is becoming increasingly severe.

The masses reacted strongly, district and county leaders were extremely anxious, and the Agriculture Bureau arranged for technical personnel from the agricultural machinery and technology departments to go deep into the fields to make preparations for pest control and drought resistance.

Guo Yang also asked Qin Lijun several times.

The city is also coordinating with Jiayuguan on the distribution of water from the Taolai River, but Jiayuguan is not in a hurry.

First, agricultural water use is limited, and second, it is located upstream. For Jiayuguan, maintaining industrial production is more important.

Jiayuguan has a population of more than 95, of which about % are city dwellers, and the people there do not have such a deep understanding of water shortages.

When some people learned that a drought had occurred in Jiuquan agriculture, they were even confused.

"Drought? I don't feel it. I don't feel anything except that it's not raining at home."

"You don't farm, so how come you feel that the farmland is flooded these days?"

However, when citizens saw that the factory was still emitting pollutants, they began to worry.

Environmental pollution is a big problem.

The environmental pollution caused by calcium carbide, ferroalloy and other enterprises in Jiabei Industrial Park has attracted long-term complaints from the public.

When he heard that Jiahe was interested in controlling river pollution, the symposium that Qin Lijun had been organizing for a long time was finally decided.

The rumor of merging the two cities has been circulating for many years, but for many reasons, it has never come to fruition.

However, Jiahe took over the Gobi Desert, which was dozens of kilometers between the two cities.

The integration of Jiujia, or the integrated development of Jiajiu, has made breakthrough progress in one fell swoop.

Not interested in Jiuquan and Jiayuguan.

I am very interested in Jiahe and Jiayuguan.

...

A large conference room in the city.

There were already some people sitting at the large rectangular table. After Guo Yang entered the room, he looked at the nameplate on the table.

Qin Lijun, the top leader of Jiuquan, Tang Xueqing, the third or fourth leader of Jiayuguan, and the water, agriculture, meteorology, and environmental protection departments of the two cities.

In addition, there are Jiugang, Jiahe, Taolaihe Water Conservancy Administration, Yuanyangchi and other reservoirs, and hydropower stations upstream.

The level of the symposium was undoubtedly very high and there were many people attending.

Directly opposite Guo Yang was the seat for the Jiugang representative, and a fair-skinned, gentle man wearing glasses looked over there.

"Hello, Mr. Guo, I'm Li Xingjian from Jiugang."

"Hello, Guo Yang."

The two of them made a brief introduction.

Jiayuguan was born because of Jiugang, which accounts for 90% of the city's GDP. Li Xingjian is a member of the city's leadership circle.

Jiuquan has two major industries: aviation and agriculture and animal husbandry, and Jiahe is also very important.

At this time, Lu Yilin from the Agriculture and Forestry Bureau, who was sitting next to Guo Yang, spoke up.

"Mr. Guo, how is the drought situation in Jiahe?"

"The newly planted 50 acres of soybeans can only hold on for a little while longer." Guo Yang began to pity himself.

Jinta has two main varieties of soybeans, one is Tiandou No. 1, which is mainly used for land with high salinity.

The other one is more drought-tolerant and is mainly planted on land with low salinity.

But after all, the improvement time was short and Alfalfa No. 1 had never been sown, so it was a bit unable to withstand the long-term drought.

Lu Yilin said: "Hey, Tianhe's soybeans are not suffering from drought at all. The yield won't be reduced at all."

"With the current soybean price, if the yield per mu is reduced by 50 kilograms, the total loss is to million yuan."

"..."

These words immediately attracted the attention of the people in the conference room, and Li Xingjian on the opposite side glanced sideways repeatedly.

Five hundred thousand acres,

Sixty to seventy million.

No matter which number it is, it is extremely huge.

At this time, Qin Lijun and Tang Xueqing also walked in together.

The symposium will begin soon.

Organized by Qin Lijun, who has the highest rank.

"Let me talk about the drought first."

"Since the beginning of spring this year, the city has had less effective precipitation, higher temperatures, and significantly less water flowing into rivers than in previous years."

"Fortunately, the temperature has been high since the start of summer irrigation, the snow in the Qilian Mountains has melted faster, and the river flow has increased, which has alleviated the drought to a certain extent."

"But this amount of water is far from enough. The districts and counties below are all in turmoil. Drinking water for people and livestock, and agricultural irrigation have all been affected to varying degrees."

"Especially for vegetables, flowers and corn seeds, once they are affected, the losses caused are irreversible."

Jiuquan has the Taolai River, which relies on the meltwater from the Qilian Mountains, so it is not completely without water.

But there is only so much water.

It also involves upstream industrial and mining enterprises, and how to coordinate and distribute it is always a confusing matter.

"Precise water management, coordinated deployment of existing water sources, drought relief and irrigation, and implementation of water-saving measures,"

"The Meteorological Bureau carried out joint operations, closely monitored weather conditions, and seized favorable opportunities to launch rain-making rockets."

“The Agriculture Bureau will strengthen drought monitoring, carry out pest and disease monitoring and early warning, and prevent and control pests and diseases of crops and cash crops.”

"We will make every effort to fight drought and reduce disasters, put the safety of people's drinking water first, and fulfill the local responsibilities of fighting drought and protecting irrigation..."

The effect of the symposium organized by Qin Lijun, "drought resistance and disaster reduction" speaks for itself.

But Guo Yang knew that all the measures that could be taken at the local level had been taken.

When he went to the countryside these days, he often encountered water transport vehicles, and the technical staff of the Agricultural Bureau did go into the fields.

Guo Yang had nothing to blame them for.

Opposite him, Li Xingjian of Jiugang was not very concerned about the drought. Instead, he was still thinking about how to control environmental pollution.

The agenda soon shifted to the management of the Taolai River basin.

"Jiuquan will vigorously regulate sewage discharge, Silk Road Park and other parks." Qin Lijun said loudly: "And Jiahe will be responsible for the treatment of water pollution."

"In the upper reaches of the Beida River, we still need the strong cooperation of comrades from Jiayuguan and Jiugang. Whether it is the mines, power stations or factories, they all need to go further in sewage discharge."

Tang Xueqing chuckled and said, "Jiayuguan has been a model city for environmental protection for seven consecutive years."

The faces of the people in Jiuquan changed.

Jiuquan is well aware of its own situation and is indeed lagging behind in urban environmental governance.

Li Xingjian also laughed and said: "Since the year 2.5, Jiugang has invested a total of about million yuan to solve the problem of excessive pollution discharge."

"In addition, indicators such as water consumption have also been declining year by year."

Jiayuguan Environmental Protection Officer Lu Honglian also said: "After testing, the water quality at the water source has reached the Class II water quality standard."

Whether in terms of capital investment or environmental standards, Jiayuguan is leading.

No one in Jiuquan said a word.

"What's there to be proud of?"

Although it wasn't to the point of sneering, the contempt in Guo Yang's words was clear.

“Is the water quality in Jiayuguan very good?”

"Not good enough?" Lu Honglian's words were unconsciously filled with anger. "Do you know what Class II water quality is?"

"The water is slightly polluted and can be used as centralized drinking water after routine treatment."

After answering casually, Guo Yang also asked: "Jiahe also did a test, and the results are different from yours."

Lu Honglian said: "What does the water from Jiuquan have to do with Jiayuguan?"

"The test data shows that ammonia nitrogen seriously exceeds the standard." Guo Yang retorted.

"Do you know what excessive ammonia nitrogen means?"

"High concentrations of ammonia nitrogen can cause eutrophication of water bodies and destroy the ecological balance of water bodies."

"Ammonia nitrogen can be converted into nitrite under certain conditions, and then combined with protein to form nitrosamine, which is a strong carcinogen."

Lu Honglian: "Empty words are not enough..."

"Okay." Li Xingjian interrupted and said, "Mr. Guo, we are clear about the problem. The ammonia nitrogen content is not as high as you said."

"Last year, despite being extremely short of funds, Jiugang invested more than 60 million yuan to conduct a comprehensive treatment of the company's unorganized emission pollution sources."

Guo Yang said: "But it is also a fact that the standards are exceeded, which shows that the governance efforts are not strong enough and the effect has not been achieved."

aside.

When Tang Xueqing heard Guo Yang tell him the ammonia nitrogen content, he knew that the other party was well prepared.

Surface water testing in some rivers in Jiayuguan has shown that they can indeed reach Class II water quality, but drinking water testing has only shown Class III water quality.

There is still some room for maneuver.

After a moment's silence, Tang Xueqing said, "Mr. Guo, since everyone is here today, you must be here to solve the problem."

"Jiugang is short of funds, and the construction of new urban areas on both sides of Jiayuguan will also require a lot of investment in the next few years."

"It's impossible for Jiuquan to just renovate a few parks, shut down some unimportant enterprises, and then ask Jiugang and Jiayuguan to come up with real money, right?"

Guo Yang raised his eyebrows.

Is Jiugang short of funds?

He doesn't quite believe it.

In recent years, steel prices have risen sharply across the country, and the growth of the northwest steel market has been extremely fierce.

Jiugang should have made huge profits in recent years.

"Can you guys give me a plan?"

Tang Xueqing glanced at Li Xingjian, only to see him nod slightly.

Tang Xueqing said: "Mr. Guo can't favor one over the other. Jiahe and Jiuquan are developing in an integrated manner. Jiahe is only focusing on Jiuquan."

This…

If you have any needs, please tell me earlier!

But what can Jiayuguan do to develop agriculture?

Guo Yang racked his brains and thought about it, then he remembered that Jiugang also had an agricultural product production base.

The company provides its own meals for more than 10,000 employees, and also sells a portion of the food to other employees.

With such a wide range of business, it’s no wonder that Jiugang is short of funds!

"I know there is a modern agricultural industrial park in Jiayuguan, and Jiahe can cooperate in this regard."

"No." Tang Xueqing said, "Jiayuguan needs Fengkai agricultural machinery."

"No, we can't move." Qin Lijun's face suddenly changed. Fengkai only has one agricultural machinery factory in the northwest, which is in Jiuquan.

Tang Xueqing shook his head, "It's not the farm machinery factory and farm machinery assembly."

“It’s a large-scale agricultural machinery and equipment manufacturer, preferably one that also has the ability to produce drones.”

"Jiayuguan has a leading edge in equipment manufacturing, including mining and selection, metallurgical equipment, full-line automation, high and low voltage power distribution, and civilian nuclear technology."

"When Fengkai comes, we will have all the benefits, tax exemption policies, land, education for employees' children, etc."

Guo Yang frowned because the price of steel in the northwest was too high, and Weifang, led by the local agricultural machinery department, jointly purchased from Taigang at a low price.

Eventually, all of Fengkai's large agricultural machinery production was transferred to Weifang.

The Northwest Factory only retained the production of supporting agricultural machinery.

Today, Fengkai’s development momentum is so fast, its reputation is growing, and its various large-scale agricultural machinery and equipment are leading the way in the country.

Jiahe is just around the corner.

It’s hard not to be moved by Jiayuguan.

(End of this chapter)