Chapter 326: Troubles of the Island Nation

Guo Yang, dressed in a suit and tie, shook hands cordially with the Arabs in national costumes one by one. The scene seemed somewhat down-to-earth.

They are all rich!

This is Yu Xiaochuan’s idea.

Only after spending a year or two in the Middle East did I truly experience what it was like to be extremely rich.

We chatted for a while.

Only then did Guo Yang know the list of people coming.

Leading the charge was Haifa Saud, a royal noble, a member of the Saud family, and one of the top officials in the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture.

Haifa Saud is rather fat and walks in a swaying manner, like a penguin.

But this did not prevent Guo Yang from having a cordial communication with him.

The other members are also well-known. Nasser Salman, general manager of Saudi Agricultural Services Company, reached an order with Alfalfa at the beginning of the year.

20 tons of alfalfa hay, worth 6 million yuan, has already been delivered.

He was also the one who facilitated this investigation.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, there are also visiting representatives from two other neighboring countries.

Walaid is from the Bu Farah family of the UAE. The current ruler of the UAE comes from this family.

and Kafri from an agricultural company in Qatar.

After just a few minutes of conversation, Guo Yang felt the overwhelming power. Walide immediately placed an order for alfalfa worth 5 million yuan, and Kafka from Qatar also placed an order for 2 million yuan.

It has to be said that there is a reason why diplomats from Middle Eastern countries are welcomed all over the world.

This "checkbook diplomacy" will confuse anyone who sees it.

Looking at the slightly shabby conference room, Guo Yang suddenly wanted to move the headquarters as soon as possible.

This is not worthy of the status of a dog owner.

Fortunately, Haifa, Nasser, Walaid and Kafri were all very satisfied with Jiahe's kenaf tea.

After just one sip, he showed an expression of obvious enjoyment, which made Guo Yang secretly proud.

Haifa was surprised and asked, "What kind of tea is this?"

"Kemp tea is not tea in the traditional sense. It can lower blood pressure and blood sugar, help with sleep, accelerate the consumption of body fat and reduce weight."

Guo Yang also sipped his tea gracefully and said, "You should have seen it on your way here from the airport."

As soon as they heard that it could lower blood pressure and reduce weight, Haifa and Walaid's eyes lit up.

Life has been too good these years. Just by selling oil, one can exchange it for a lot of foreign exchange, allowing many people to live an extremely luxurious life.

Obesity is inevitable.

Among the few people, only Kafri is better, the others... If Nasser is still a little fat, then Haifa and Walaid are a bit bloated.

As for the Gobi Desert, I didn't pay much attention to it.

Haifa took another sip of his tea.

Feeling that taste, I became more convinced of the health care and wellness ideas.

“Is there any scientific basis for this?”

"Of course, it contains a lot of hyperoside and other ingredients, and I usually can't put it down."

Haifa looked at Guo Yang, who had a well-proportioned and fit body, with envy, and guessed that the kenaf tea must have contributed to this.

But thinking about the purpose of this trip, he decided to talk about business first.

Most of Saudi Arabia's arable land is located in arid environments and is most threatened by desertification and salinization.

Thanks to Yu Xiaochuan's efforts, a video and information about sand control and desert agriculture development appeared in the sight of the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture.

For various reasons, countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan were also in opposition to Israel at this time.

Naturally, there will be no agricultural technology cooperation with Israel.

For many years, Saudi Arabia has been purchasing seeds, agricultural machinery and agricultural technology from Australia.

Relying on oil revenues and Australian technology, Saudi Arabia has achieved self-sufficiency in food, but it is a case of exhausting resources.

Irreversible depletion of groundwater.

Desert salt invasion.

At this time, seeing the tremendous sand control achievements of the great Eastern country, how can we not be envious?

Moreover, Nasser Shaman of Saudi Agricultural Services Company had been to Jinta Pasture a few years ago when the first batch of Alfalfa 1 came out.

Having seen the scene of saline-alkali land management, Yu Xiaochuan's persuasiveness has been enhanced.

Haifa wants to see the salt and desert.

Guo Yang naturally had to meet this request.

The huge convoy arrived at the former saline-alkali land, which is now a corn seed-producing field.

Haifa looked at the harvest scene. The corn cobs were thick, big and golden in color.

But what he wanted to see was the saline-alkali land. Wasn't this a joke on him?
Haifa said unhappily: "Saudi Arabia is not interested in corn, I just want to see salt marshes and deserts!"

Yu Xiaochuan said: "This place used to be saline-alkali land, heavily saline-alkali land. If you don't believe me, ask Nasser, he has been here."

Haifa looked at Nasser in confusion, but Nasser was also a little confused at this time.

Several years passed.

Now it's a cornfield again.

But this place does look familiar!

Shit! What's going on?

Guo Yang didn't say much, but invited Haifa and others to come to the cornfield to look at the soil.

Rolling up the sleeves of his suit, Guo Yang bent down and scooped up a handful of soil.

From now on, I will tell everyone that I was the one who took the dog geek to play in the mud.

"Look, how fertile the soil is!"

"The soil is indeed very good, but what does it have to do with our purpose today?"

"It matters a lot." Guo Yang smiled mysteriously, "You'd better remember the current state of this handful of soil. Forget it, Yu Xiaochuan, go get a plastic bag from the car."

Seeing Guo Yang's cautious look, several Arabs became more and more confused.

What kind of plane is this!
Don’t want to discuss cooperation anymore?

But when Nasser walked into a familiar white office building, he suddenly exclaimed: "I remember!"

"right here!"

"I've been to the lab here!"

“The extremely high protein content and nutritional value of alfalfa hay were measured here!”

Nasser suddenly understood, but was even more confused. "Why did it turn into corn, and the soil?"

Guo Yang didn't waste any time and brought his group to the exhibition hall.

He then signaled to the staff to play the video.

Guo Yang said: "Everyone, this is what this land looked like originally. Although it is not a desert, it is an equally harsh and heavily saline-alkali land."

Several people concentrated their attention.

When the vast saline-alkali Gobi desert covered with white snow appeared, it brought back bad memories for Haifa and others.

In order to control the desert, Saudi Arabia once tried to introduce seawater, but it ended up creating large areas of saline-alkali land, which made it more difficult to control.

The scene was almost identical to what is shown on video today.

No, there is still a difference.

The land in Jiahe was originally uneven, while in Saudi Arabia, in addition to the desert, there were also arable land that was originally flat but lacked water.

The environment that Jiahe faces is even more difficult!
But as time went by, a large number of people and machines appeared on the deserted saline-alkali beach, fighting against each other.

Makes blood boil!

Then the green began to appear.

It was sparse at first, then it got better and better, but it was still not very optimistic.

But after a green manure is returned to the field, the newly sown seeds sprout and the land is completely transformed.

That's a real modern grassland!

Then comes the harvest scene of alfalfa mowing, drying, baling, processing, packaging, etc.

Finally it became a corn seed production base!
The people in Haifa were shocked beyond words.

It was even more shocking than the scenes of sand control and agricultural development in the desert that Yu Xiaochuan had shown them before!

Saudi Arabia once tried to transform the desert, but failed, and instead it turned into a saline-alkali land that is even more difficult to manage.

However, Golden Harvest succeeded!
But it’s worth the trip!
While several people were stunned, Guo Yang asked the laboratory technician Hu Jie to play another confidential document.

"This is the soil test data of this land in recent years, which can show the changes more clearly."

Sodium chloride, sodium sulfate and other saline and alkali ingredients;
Physicochemical properties such as pH and moisture;

Nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium;

Heavy metal content;
organic matter and microorganisms;
When the data curves of each soil test component appeared, the doubts in the minds of several people had completely disappeared.

When Hu Jie took the soil sample from a few years ago and compared it with the soil that Guo Yang had just held in his hands, Nasser couldn't help but ask.

"How is this done?"

"Because of the alfalfa variety, it's a special crop that not only tolerates salt, but can 'eat salt.'

"Is this alfalfa all you need?"

Nasser has long known the quality of Alfalfa’s alfalfa products, and bales, pellets, and grass meal are all popular among domestic ranchers.

It can play an important role in raising dairy cows, beef cattle, chickens, and even camels.

Saudi Arabia's visit this time naturally also has the intention of purchasing. It doesn't make sense for Saudi Arabia to come empty-handed when its younger brothers the UAE and Qatar have already placed orders.

"Alfalfa No. 1 is responsible for the main part." Guo Yang said with a smile, "You don't have to doubt Jiahe's ability to manage saline-alkali land."

"No, no, we didn't doubt it, we were just shocked!" Haifa said.

Although he didn't know how Saudi Arabia wanted to cooperate, Guo Yang showed enough patience.

Dinner is already being prepared, and the banquet will still be held in the Gobi Desert.

Guo Yang took his people to look into Gobi agriculture.

The group's headquarters is already undergoing renovations. The sea of ​​ramie flowers in the Gobi Desert has long since withered and is beginning to turn yellow along with the sea buckthorn.

The beautiful scenery is gone.

But when the Arab expedition team learned that this place used to be a Gobi Desert, they didn’t know what to say. This kind of technology was impossible for the Arab world to possess!
The surge in international oil prices has given oil-rich countries peace of mind.

When the price of oil broke through $150 per barrel, any small Gulf country became a wealthy tycoon whose words carried weight.

But it is still a paper tiger.

No matter how rich they are, the international community has never recognized the Gulf countries as developed countries!
In particular, most Arab countries need to rely on imports for grain and food, which leads to political dependence and restricted international discourse power.

This food crisis is an example!

Due to food shortages, protests or riots have occurred in five Arab countries so far, including Egypt, Morocco, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Egypt even had to borrow money to import food due to lack of foreign exchange.

And food prices are still skyrocketing!
During the chat, Haifa finally revealed more of its needs, including purchasing supplies, controlling deserts and saline-alkali land, and inviting agricultural investment.

He also hopes to reach in-depth cooperation with Jiahe in the field of agriculture. This was actually a temporary idea of ​​Haifa. After understanding Jiahe's strength, he believed that the other party was qualified.

Saudi Arabia is one of the three major powers in the Gulf.

It is also the core of the Gulf monarchy group and a good brother of Egypt, once the leader of the Arab world.

Not long ago, they jointly promoted the signing of an agricultural integration agreement in the Arab world.

Therefore, Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are planning to invest in agriculture in neighboring countries such as Sudan, Morocco and Algeria.

Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE want to set up large overseas agricultural investment companies.

But subsequent development requires seeds, agricultural machinery, pesticides, technology, etc. This is a long-term business that may last for decades.

The West does not support this business. They may sell agricultural supplies, but they will never teach the technology wholeheartedly.

It just so happens that Golden Harvest has this strength.

Although there might be political trouble, Guo Yang still believed that this could be done.

Doing business with Saudi Arabia will definitely not be a loss.

Just like the trade between the two countries over the past decade, it has already reached an unprecedented breadth and depth, and there is nothing that the higher-ups dare not sell. The atmosphere was very harmonious for a while.

Standing in front of the French window on the top floor of Jiahe headquarters, looking out at the vast desert Gobi, the Chinese character "禾" on the ground has already taken shape.

“That’s really cool,” Haifa Saud said.

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Maybe one day Saudi Arabia will also build an agricultural building in the desert that will attract worldwide attention."

"Hahaha."

"I'll take you to taste the delicious food here."

After a while, we arrived at a carefully decorated small square, which looked pretty good.

The food was also quite standard, including beef, mutton, camel meat, baked naan, rice, etc., and the drinks were alfalfa juice, honey milk, etc.

Basically respect Islamic customs.

But the food, which Guo Yang thought was quite ordinary, was praised by several Arabs.

Looking at the intoxicated look, Guo Yang finally understood why the obesity rate among these Arabs is so high.

After the meal, Haifa said again: "These things are so delicious!"

"As long as it suits your taste, the raw materials of these foods are all Jiahe products."

"Wheat and rice too?"

“Of course, the quality of Jiahe’s Tianmai No. 1 wheat is absolutely world-class!”

Guo Yang suddenly remembered something and said, "There is a new project that I think Saudi Arabia will be interested in."

"What project?"

“Growing sea rice in the desert.”

Haifa smiled and said, "Tomorrow, tomorrow we will finalize the cooperation!"

...

In the evening, Guo Yang touched his belly. He hadn't exercised much recently, so he felt that his abdominal muscles were not as hard as before.

He also wants to be self-disciplined.

But once I get busy with work, I have less time for exercise.

At this moment, he was still looking at various project materials. Pu Fei and others had decided on the site for the cotton picker production base.

There are five major production bases: Wusu, Urumqi, Shayaxian, Aral and Zepu.

It's not entirely centered around anyone.

Shaya, Aral and Zepu are all close to the Tarim River. Zepu has a 50-acre soybean base, and it is very likely that cotton will be rotated into the crop in the future.

They are all cities on the edge of the desert.

Guo Yang thought about it for a moment and agreed.

The time for machine-picking cotton is approaching. Although John Deere has recalled 32 cotton pickers, there are still 67 here.

At the same time, Guizhou Airlines also has dozens of units in the testing phase.

Everyone wants to get orders from the Corps and optimize early, because only the Corps has a complete machine-picked cotton processing system.

The competition is still quite fierce.

A war of words is inevitable.

I looked at the situation at CME for a while, and I can only say it is scary. The entire market has completely lost its rationality. There is only one word: rise!

Although the accident was caused by corn, the biggest price increase was in wheat, which is the staple food in many countries.

This was probably the reason why Saudi Arabia came so suddenly. He really wanted to know how many orders Saudi Arabia would bring.

The UAE and Qatar have 5 million and million respectively. It can't be less than that, right?
...

Kumtag Desert, the southern line of the scientific expedition team, that is, the Dunhuang West Lake-Lop Nur route.

Building roads when encountering ditches, pushing carts when encountering sand, and setting up camp at night are what the scientific expedition team has to do every day in the past twenty days.

That night, on the cracked ground of a lake, the experts from the scientific expedition team chatted while cooking.

"People from Tianhe really never get tired!"

Wei Huaidong, a researcher at the Longnan Desert Control Research Institute, said: "They have high incomes. Every time they collect a rare germplasm resource, they get a generous bonus. We are not like that, we only rely on our passion."

"No wonder, every time he discovers a plant during an expedition, he rushes out faster than anyone else."

"Even now, we are still busy measuring the area of ​​this Weilu Lake."

I don’t know how long it took, but the night sky was full of stars and an off-road vehicle returned to the camp.

Wei Huaidong shouted, "Lian Cun, come and eat first."

"okay."

Lian Cun and two team members came over. An expert took out a pen and paper and asked, "How big is Weilu Lake?"

"38 square meters."

“Very valuable!”

"It's so valuable." Lian Cun and two team members couldn't help but feel happy.

"You're so happy! Does your boss also give you a bonus for this kind of discovery?" Wei Huaidong asked.

"That's not the case." Lian Cun said with a smile, "But the boss specifically emphasized that these are also the key areas of investigation, and the data must be solid."

"Is Jiahe thinking about this Weilu Lake?" A team member joked, "This is a seasonal lake. There is water only from May to July."

“This is something the boss is considering.”

After having a pleasant meal, Lian Cun contacted the company via satellite phone.

Seasonal floods originating from the Altun Mountains flow down through the deep north-south valleys of the desert, eventually forming a number of tailwater lakes in the heart of the desert.

Although the lake only exists from May to July due to severe evaporation and infiltration, it is definitely worth reporting.

Their journey was almost over. They headed north to the Aqik Valley to join the northern team, then west to Hongliu Valley, and then to Lop Nur...

...

The scientific expedition team, on the northern line, also made important discoveries.

In the southwestern part of the Great Desert, two large canyons were discovered for the first time.

The two canyons are more than ten kilometers apart. The canyons are full of rugged rocks, flowing springs and unique scenery. One of the canyons is about 80 kilometers long.

This is unique among the eight major deserts in China and can be called a natural wonder.

At the same time, springs were discovered in multiple channels, and seasonal rivers and tail lakes were discovered in the heart of the desert.

In Aqik Valley, the extremely rare 'Saltland Tamarix' and 'White Flower Tamarix' were also found.

...

The next morning, as soon as Guo Yang arrived at the office, he learned the news from Bi Qiang.

Seasonal rivers and tail lakes were discovered on both the north and south routes, as well as rare springs in desert canyons.

In addition, more than 150 sand samples, more than 120 soil samples, and more than 20 plant specimens were collected, including 18 species of desert plants.

Although biological populations are small and species are scarce, each represents its ability to adapt to a specific environment.

Either way, it's extremely valuable.

Dahong Mountain, Soso Valley, Hongliu Valley, Aqik Valley, Hadalachi...

A corner of the mysterious veil of the Kumdag Desert has been lifted, and the value of scientific research has emerged.

Jiahe will continue to explore in detail the point-to-line governance approach, perhaps opening a route directly from Dunhuang to Lop Nur?
It is not the kind of route in later generations that might get you dried into a mummified corpse, but a truly safe tourist route.

Guo Yang really wanted to try crossing the desert and reach the mysterious Lop Nur, even if it was just to take a look at Lop Nur!

There is also the Milan River Water Conservancy Project.

If the project is not approved, the water of Milan River will not reach Lop Nur Town, and ecological management of the river basin will be out of the question.

The first phase hasn't even started production yet. Why wait another 10 years for the second phase?
We have to find a way to push it.

While busy in the office and waiting for the arrival of the Arab delegation, Haifa should take out real money today.

However, before Haifa and others arrived, Xie Shijie arrived first, in a hurry.

"Boss, there is an islander who may need your reception."

Guo Yang raised his eyebrows, "Island merchant? Who?"

"Hiroto Hoshi, the general representative of Marubeni Corporation in China, and Daisuke Okada, the director of Marubeni's agricultural products department."

"So sudden?"

Xie Shijie explained: "It was brought by Shintaro Iwata. I just found out about it. I just found out that you were in the office, so I wanted to visit the boss."

Marubeni Corporation is one of the five largest comprehensive trading companies in the island country.

In 2001, the total sales volume was US$718 billion, ranking 500th in the Fortune Global 25.

It also has a strong influence on international grain trade, basically ranking only below the four major grain traders.

Will Marubeni look to Jiahe for corn imports? The possibility is not high. Strictly speaking, Marubeni and Jiahe are competitors.

Guo Yang thought for a moment and said, "I don't have much time. The Saudis will be here soon. It will take at most 15 minutes."

"That's enough." Xie Shijie said with a smile, "Iwata regretted it and came to Alfalfa to import a large amount of alfalfa. It seems that there are quality problems with the alfalfa in the United States. Now they are asking Jiahe for help."

Guo Yang's heart sank.

Is there a problem with American alfalfa?

Then I immediately thought of Dodder. I have been so busy recently that I almost forgot about it. Americans have suffered so many disasters this year!

After a while, Guo Yang met Xing Boren, Daisuke Okada, and Shintaro Iwata of the Dairy Farmers Association in the conference room.

Guo Yang got straight to the point: "What's the matter, Mr. Xing Bo Ren, please be brief. I have something else to do later."

"Marubeni needs to urgently import a batch of corn and alfalfa products."

"How much?"

Daisuke Okada said: "The first batch of corn is 400 million tons, and more will be added later. At least 80 tons of high-quality alfalfa products will be needed."

"80 tons of alfalfa?" Xie Shijie asked in surprise, "It's already October, where can I find 10 tons of alfalfa for you?"

Alfalfa's own alfalfa pasture area is still more than 100 acres, and the total annual output is just over million tons.

Including the purchase and processing, the total output is only two to three million tons.

The fourth crop has been harvested.

There is still inventory, but it shouldn’t be much. Saudi Arabia may also place an order this time.

"Corn is fine." Guo Yang pondered for a while, shook his head and said, "But high-quality alfalfa is difficult to come by. It's out of stock."

"Muhe has other channels. Please think of a way."

Guo Yang was surprised, this is quite urgent!

He just didn't pay attention to the international grain and oil situation for two or three days, and the situation has deteriorated to this extent?
Seeing that Jiahe didn't say anything, Okada Daisuke gritted his teeth and said, "You name the price!"

The soaring international corn prices have caused a sharp increase in costs for chicken farms in the island nation, making operations difficult, and 17 large chicken farms have already closed down.

But what is even more difficult is that the export volume of corn from the United States, the largest import channel, has dropped sharply, resulting in a huge gap.

And the people are also resistant to GMOs.

At the same time, alfalfa products imported from the United States also had quality problems. Weeds were found in the hay bales, causing gastrointestinal diseases in livestock and poultry.

The same problem occurs with grass meal mixed into chicken feed.

In desperation, Marubeni Corporation could only turn its attention to China.

Guo Yang thought for a moment and asked Xie Shijie, "Glorious, Oasis, and Shandan Military Horse Farm should also have some stock, right?"

"There should be some. In addition to alfalfa, there are also quite a few oat hays, foxtail grass, etc., but most of them are first- and second-grade hays."

“Will level one or two grass products be okay?”

"Yes, as soon as possible, please."

Shintaro Iwata followed suit and said, "Boss Guo, we want all the extra-high-quality hay Alfalfa has left!"

Guo Yang shook his head. He still remembered that the island country and the Dairy Farmers' Association had gone back on their word, breached the contract and cancelled the order. How could it be so easy to get it now if he wanted it?
The Saudi brothers are still waiting as well!
"Let's do this for now. I have guests arriving. Mr. Xie will take care of the rest for you."

Guo Yang pushed the door open and walked out.

At this time, an Arab delegation happened to pass by the aisle. When they saw the man wearing a piece of cloth on his head, Shintaro Iwata's face changed.

On the Saudi side, Nasser also saw Iwata in the conference room.

This person seems familiar. It seems I have competed with him before?

(End of this chapter)