Chapter 328: Fallow

As we enter mid-October, people in Jiuquan can already feel a slight chill.

The temperature in the desert will only get lower at night.

Fortunately, the northern and southern expedition teams have completed their reunion and arrived at Lop Nur.

In fact, the scientific expedition team had no original plan to investigate Lop Nur. This was Jiahe's request. It would be a pity not to utilize so many experts.

After learning about the whereabouts of the scientific expedition team, Guo Yang sorted out what had happened during this period and prepared to go to the countryside again.

I can't sit still in the office and always want to dig into the ground. I just feel that I will be more comfortable this way.

Moreover, in the harvest season, it always lacks some charm to be faced with words and data.

But before that, Guo Yang still had to go to the municipal government, where Qin Lijun informed him that a preliminary conclusion had been reached on the Dunhuang West Lake project.

After arriving at the parking lot of the administrative building, Guo Yang and Luo Xiu each picked up a few boxes of ramie tea and went upstairs.

Luo Xiu was responsible for delivering gifts to each office, while Guo Yang went straight to see Qin Lijun and placed two boxes of sesame tea on the table.

Qin Lijun frowned and criticized: "You always make such a big fuss like this, which has a bad influence!"

"It's just some tea leaves. What's the big deal? Besides, which cadre can't resist such temptation?"

"You..." Qin Lijun was speechless and simply waved his hand, "Don't do it again!"

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Oh, it's not a sugar-coated bullet."

Qin Lijun didn't want to argue, so he just got down to business. "It's approved. The West Lake Wetland can be leased to Jiahe, but the West Lake Administration must participate in the management of the reserve."

This should be a means of supervision. No matter how good Jiahe’s reputation is or how strong its strength is, such things are inevitable.

After all, it is a national nature reserve, which involves the ecological security of a county-level city and several key scenic spots.

Fortunately, there are not many people in the West Lake Management Bureau, and they are all people who get things done.

"Okay, boss, Jiahe accepts this condition, but how to calculate the rent? Is there a final conclusion?"

"How much do you think is appropriate?"

"What I said doesn't count."

"Just say it."

"If you ask me, a symbolic rent of 1 yuan would be enough."

"That's 1 dollar."

"It's really just 1 yuan. The total area of ​​West Lake Wetland is only 66 hectares. Your annual rent is less than 1000 million yuan, right?"

Qin Lijun shook his head and said seriously: "It's not 1 yuan per mu, it's just 1 yuan in total."

Guo Yang, who was drinking tea, almost choked, "Leader, are you kidding me?"

"Do you think I'm joking? What I say is what I mean. The rent is just symbolic."

Qin Lijun put away the red hemp tea and said, "The Forestry Department provides very little financial support to the West Lake Administration, and there are not many guns in total. Jiahe is willing to invest money in the ecological management of the reserve, so naturally we have to strongly support it."

"But Jiahe must really do this. Don't start tourism development before the environment is well developed."

"Absolutely no problem." Guo Yang said with a smile. He had never intended to get rich from this.

Qin Lijun suddenly asked: "Do you know what the higher-ups think of Jiahe?"

"Why, the province wants to give me an environmental protection medal?"

"Hey, kid, you definitely have a prize, but it has nothing to do with this. Now every city and county is saying that the people in Jiahe are stupid and have a lot of money." Qin Lijun said with a smile: "There must be a lot of people who have come to Jiahe to seek investment during this period."

"Not really."

"This hasn't spread yet, it should be coming soon."

"That's unfortunate. I have to go to the countryside these days, and I don't even know where I'm going."

"You're really good at hiding." Qin Lijun was stunned for a moment, then he said, "Are we going to Jinta later? I'm going to do some research, so if you go, you don't have to look for Mr. Xie. He seems to be very busy these days."

How can it not be busy? The alfalfa orders from Saudi Arabia and the island countries add up to more than 130 million tons.

Alfalfa does not have the supply capacity. Although the alfalfa industry cluster in the Hexi Corridor has taken shape, it still needs to communicate and contact with units such as Huihuang and Oasis.

Xie Shijie is in charge of the whole thing.

Guo Yang's original route was to go west to the countryside and directly to Dunhuang to wait for Lian Cun and others to return.

But since Qin Lijun said so, he naturally agreed.

Many people participated in the survey, including Qin Lijun, Lu Yilin from the Municipal Agriculture and Forestry Bureau and others.

The main purpose is also to check the autumn harvest situation.

Along the way, you can often see peppers and corn drying in the Gobi Desert. The various harvest scenes are truly refreshing. No wonder Qin Lijun chose this time to go to the countryside for research, so that it would be easier to write news.

Some land with early harvest has been rushed to be planted with vegetables by farmers, but Jiahe's soybean and corn fields have chosen to be left fallow.

Seeing this scene, Lu Yilin, director of the Municipal Agriculture and Forestry Bureau who went to the countryside with him, felt quite sorry.

"In fact, the winter vegetable market has been good in the past two years. If we plant more for one season, the benefits should be good."

Sowing a season's staple food in early spring and another season's vegetables in autumn is a planting technique that Jiuquan has only mastered in the last ten years or so, and it can increase a lot of income.

As a result, it was widely adopted by local farmers, but Lu Yilin did not expect that Jiahe completely abandoned this practice.

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Most vegetables in winter are not suitable for mechanization. Jiahe's vegetable production can only break even at best."

“But the revenue data is beautiful!”

"Jiahe is not a listed company and does not pay attention to these things." Guo Yang said with a smile.

Qin Lijun also chimed in: "But the price of vegetables in the winter of the past two years is indeed not cheap, and the people's vegetable basket is also very important."

"If these hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Jiahe are planted with vegetables, there will be a surplus and farmers will suffer, just like the corn some time ago."

"Hasn't the corn problem been solved?"

"But in fact, there is still a surplus. The corn production in the United States will eventually recover. What will we do then?"

“Isn’t there also bioenergy?”

"That's because oil prices are high. If oil prices fall to $20 per barrel, will countries still expand production capacity like crazy?"

"Mr. Guo, do you mean that oil prices will fall?"

"That's for sure." Guo Yang thought of the Arab inspection team that had just left. Once the price of crude oil drops, some small Gulf countries will fall into crisis. That will be Jiahe's opportunity to quickly acquire and expand in the Middle East.

Lu Yilin said: "It's a pity to see such a large piece of land lying waste."

In China, many people really cannot stand to see land left idle. Guo Yang remembered that there was a piece of wasteland next to the community where he lived in his previous life. It didn't take long before all the nearby residents planted various vegetables there. The fields were also divided into very small but clearly defined areas.

Even many people who go abroad are accustomed to growing various vegetables in their gardens.

In recent years, due to the influx of labor into cities, the phenomenon of abandoned rural land has increased across the country, attracting widespread attention from society.

Some people cried out in grief!

The Agriculture and Forestry Bureau naturally bears more pressure in this regard.

Guo Yang pondered and said, "More than a decade ago, when there was a surplus of agricultural products internationally, the European Union introduced an interesting land policy that required farmers to leave 10% of their arable land fallow each year."

"Is there such a thing?"

"Yes." Guo Yang said: "At that time, the long-term agricultural product trade conflicts in the EU, ASEAN, island countries, the United States, and Canada were caused by oversupply."

"The EU also considered fallow land for this reason. Later, the soil improved, technology advanced, and crop yields increased. Then there was a surplus. At the same time, crude oil prices soared, so the EU also accelerated the development of bioenergy."

Qin Lijun said: "Once crude oil prices fall, or production breaks through again, there will still be a surplus? Is that what you mean?"

Domestic crop yields will see a step-by-step increase in the next few years.

At present, the planting area of ​​Tianyu No. 1 and Tiandou No. 1 accounts for 40% to 50%. Once the upgraded varieties of Tianhe and other companies are promoted, the output will be greatly improved.

Once the global food crisis is over next year, it will be hard to say what the future holds.

"Yes, leaving land fallow is actually to avoid overproduction." Guo Yang said: "In fact, the land that should be left fallow is the land with ecological degradation."

"Leaving land fallow can not only restore the fertility of the land, but also reduce the extraction of groundwater. This is actually an important way to prevent soil desertification and salinization."

"In the past, arable land was used to the extreme because there was not enough land and the country also needed to ensure food security, but in a few years, the country will soon have the conditions to leave land fallow."

"The city can try to promote a pilot project, starting with seasonal fallow, and severely degraded areas can be left fallow for a year. If this is successful, it is likely to become a model project in China."

The Northwest is suffering from severe drought, water shortage, soil desertification and salinization. If the land can be left fallow for appropriate periods of time, the value it would bring to the restoration of the ecological environment would be immeasurable.

It will definitely be a highlight.

Because Guo Yang knew that in a dozen years, the Xiongan New Area and the Tarim River Basin would both implement a pilot program for the fallow land system.

But that is because the over-exploitation of groundwater and the ecological environment have deteriorated to the point where they have to be rectified, and the land is forced to remain fallow.

However, the pilot program of fallow land proposed now is a proactive fallow land program, and its meaning is obviously different.

Qin Lijun was also very interested. He was a new official and was worrying about how to make some highlights!

“Can domestic grain production really reach that level?”

"No problem. Even if we can't achieve it, it won't affect the implementation of fallow. I have walked this road no less than a hundred times. There are countless low-yield fields along the way, but farmers are still exploiting the land. Even if they grow green manure for a season, they still cut the grass instead of returning the fertilizer to the field."

Qin Lijun asked: "What should we do about fallow land?"

Guo Yang pondered and said: "During the seasonal fallow period, we support farmers to plant green manure crops such as alfalfa and rapeseed, without watering or harvesting. They can be directly plowed into the fields before the next crop is planted to reduce exposed ground and improve soil fertility.

Every farmer who undertakes the task of leaving land fallow will receive a certain amount of financial subsidy as long as it is completed according to regulations.”

Qin Lijun and Lu Yilin both fell into deep thought.

Because of the existence of the Taolai River, the irrigation conditions for farmland in Suzhou and Jinta are relatively good.

However, due to the construction of the Yuanyang Lake Reservoir in the lower reaches of the Taolai River, the desert in the north has invaded severely.

Although ecological water has been released from the reservoir for several years, it is still not enough. If seasonal fallow can be achieved, more water will be available.

The only problem is finance. Lu Yilin said: "The good results of Jiahe's saline-alkali land management are also closely related to Jiahe's regular return of green manure to the fields and fallowing."

Qin Lijun was surprised: "Is there another reason?"

"It has a lot to do with it." Guo Yang said with a smile: "In the past few years, Alfalfa has summarized its experience of returning green manure to the fields, especially the saline-alkali land where Alfalfa No. 1 was returned to the fields. The soil fertility and properties are completely different."

Lu Yilin echoed, "Just like Tianhe's 20 mu of corn seed land, which was returned to Alfalfa No. 1 and then left fallow for a winter, the yield this year should not be low, right, Mr. Guo?"

"The average yield per mu is no less than 3500 kilograms, and some plots can reach more than 4000 kilograms."

"So high?" Although Qin Lijun didn't know much about agriculture, he knew from some general data that 3500 kilograms per mu was an absolutely super high yield.

"Correct."

"This is still a seed-producing field," Lu Yilin said. "After three to five years of fallowing, it may actually help increase total production."

"Old Lu, do you also support fallow land?"

"Well...if it can be implemented, it will be very beneficial to the ecological mission goals of the 11th Five-Year Plan, and may even attract the attention of the top leaders, although the pressure will also be great."

"Does that mean you support me?" Qin Lijun looked at Lu Yilin sharply.

Unlike Qin Lijun, Lu Yilin is a local tyrant, and his subordinates are very familiar with Jiuquan's state-owned farms, large-scale planting households, oasis towns, etc.

If he stood with Qin Lijun, the result would be very different.

The 11th Five-Year Plan is indeed very tempting!

Guo Yang then said: "I can also go to the Soil Protection Center to get some information and try to make it a national pilot project."

Lu Yilin pondered for a while and said, "Then we can pilot it in Dunhuang, Yumen, and Guazhou, where there are also a lot of saline-alkali farmland."

"What a coincidence." Qin Lijun said with a smile, "It just happens to support Jiahe's development in Dunhuang West Lake."

A preliminary verbal agreement on fallowing the land was reached.

Jiahe went to the Soil and Water Conservation Center in advance to brief them and strive for a high-level project pilot. The fallow and water-saving practices in Dunhuang and Yumen will also help protect the West Lake wetlands.

Lu Yilin from the Agriculture and Forestry Bureau was responsible for sorting out the project information and submitting the application at all levels.

Qin Lijun is responsible for raising money. If he can find the source of subsidy funds this month, he might be able to carry out one or two pilot projects this year.

If this is done well and can be promoted nationwide, it will be of great help to the future of both of them.

After completing the site survey of Jiahe, Qin Lijun led his men to the next location, and Guo Yang also prepared to return to the city to visit the corn seed factory.

However, when passing by the grain and oil processing plant, Guo Yang saw that there were many vehicles in the factory area, so he asked Luo Xiu to drive in for a spin.

I happened to see a familiar figure. It was the cooperative that was clamoring to sell grain last time. It was standing next to the grain truck.

"Pause."

Rolling down the car window, the man also looked over. Guo Yang joked, "Are you here to sell grain? Has the grain price gone up?"

Zhang Quan reacted quickly, took out a cigarette and handed it over, "Oh, it's gone up, it's gone up, I have to thank the boss for his advice last time, if I sell it, I will lose a lot."

"I don't smoke." Guo Yang didn't answer and said, "In fact, the price of corn may rise later."

"No need to wait. The grain output this year is high and the warehouse of the cooperative is almost full. I will feel at ease if I can exchange it for money sooner."

"Wow, it looks like you made a lot of money!"

"Haha, not bad. We have a little over 6000 mu of land and harvested nearly million kilograms of corn this year."

"That's quite a lot. It should be sold for about 12 million. Your skills are pretty good." Guo Yang praised, saying that the golden age for large-scale growers has arrived.

In recent years, most people who have rented land and farmed in the northwest have made a fortune. Unfortunately, he was too young in his previous life and did not graduate in time. When he reached age, it was the Dharma Ending Age.

He actually misses the days of farming. Maybe if he hadn't traveled through time, he would still be farming. Could he be writing online articles?

I just took a tour around the factory, and when I saw that there were no problems, I left.

He is busy at the moment, so he won't cause any more trouble.

Another half an hour passed before we arrived at Tianhe's seed production factory.

It was the same busy scene, with tractors, pickup trucks and farm vehicles lined up in long queues and corn piled up like mountains. The difference from the grain and oil processing plants was that the corn here had not been shelled.

Fengkai’s seed corn harvester has been designed, but it cannot thresh the corn directly, and even when harvesting corn cobs there will be some damage.

But it is better than picking them one by one by hand. If we really have to do it manually, how many people would it take for Tianhe to produce 20 acres of seed corn?

There is some damage, and being more careful during subsequent screening can also have a certain effect.

Tianhe’s seed production is not very good, but under the leadership of Yan Qun, it has been very stable.

The seed production line has also been strengthened, and it is basically difficult for problems to occur. Guo Yang inspected it in a low-key manner and then returned to the company.

...

The next morning, two cars set off from Jiuquan to Dunhuang. Guo Yang brought Niu Hulin from the Alfalfa Engineering Department, as well as Bi Qiang and others from the Tianhe Science Academy.

Along the way, barren Gobi and harvest scenes alternated, but yellow land was still the majority.

This time, Guo Yang changed the route with two principles: one was to walk along the state-owned farm, and the other was to walk along the Shule River.

We passed through Laojunmiao Oil Mine Farm, Huanghua Farm and Yinma Farm in Yumen before reaching the key water conservancy hub on the Shule River: Shuangta Reservoir.

The downstream is the seasonal river section of the Shule River, which is basically the boundary between Guazhou and Yumen.

There are also several state-owned farms in Guazhou downstream of the Shuangta Reservoir, including Xiaowan Farm, Sigong Farm and Xihu Farm.

West Lake Farm is basically located at the border of Dunhuang. It is the last agricultural area on the Shule River. It is located in the northeast of Dunhuang city and the west of Guazhou xian city. Along the ancient river channel is the West Lake Wetland.

This is also the most remote farm in Longnan Province. Coming here, Guo Yang seemed to know what the 1970s and 1980s were like.

There are dirt roads full of potholes, old adobe houses, many of which are dilapidated. In addition, firewood is piled up randomly, and visual poverty is the first impression.

The 1.2 acres of farm land is also very scattered, and "chicken coop fields" are very common, which is no different from the rural areas.

The Shule River here has long dried up, and it is difficult to guarantee basic living water for farm workers.

Don't even think about groundwater sources.

The car drove around the farm for a long time before finding a pool of water from a reservoir.

Guo Yang never thought that there would be such a difficult state-owned farm. The water problem alone was more serious than the first salt-alkali beach that Muhe had taken over.

It would be fine if this was the West Lake Wetland Reserve, or even an ordinary farm, but this is a farm under the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau.

The agricultural reclamation reform had not yet begun during this period. Guo Yang knew that there were many problems, but he did not expect them to be so serious.

Oh, this is also a salt marsh.

On the edge of the farm and on both sides of the lower reaches of the ancient river, there are large areas of saline-alkali wastelands and saline-alkali grasslands.

Even looking at the satellite map, it is all white.

After coming out of West Lake Farm, Guo Yang still hadn't recovered.

It was not until I entered Dunhuang and saw the neatly-arranged square fields of the Dunhuang Farm, which were also all white, but they were snow-white cotton, that I felt relieved.

Even Bi Qiang followed suit and expressed his feelings.

“The gap is really huge!”

"Dunhuang Farm mainly relies on the water from the Dang River. Although it is also located in the lower reaches of the Dang River, it is not far away, so the water source is more reliable."

Niu Hulin said at this time: "When I was investigating before, I heard that Xihu Farm, Huangdun Farm, and another farm were merged into Dunhuang Farm, and Xihu Farm is also under the management of Dunhuang Farm."

"sure?"

"It should be right."

Guo Yang smiled and said, "That would be much more convenient. I met Secretary Wang Zhong of Dunhuang Farm last time and reached a cooperation on water-saving drip irrigation."

Bi Qiang thought of the terrifying saline-alkali grassland and said, "The water of Shule River is going to flow into the West Lake Wetland. Should we also conquer that saline-alkali grassland?"

"Of course, not only there, but also the saline-alkali grasslands on both sides of the river from Xihu Wetland to Xihu Farm are all targets for governance."

"If the follow-up situation is good, the salt marsh west of Guazhou and the lower reaches of the Yulin River will also be a future target."

The usually confident Bi Qiang felt his scalp tingling. The difficulty was not a little high. Even Niu Hulin was a little timid.

The salt marsh west of Guazhou is too big. Fortunately, they didn't start at the same time, otherwise they might have run away with their buckets.

Niu Hulin said: "There must be water! There are springs in the wetlands, but there is none in the saline-alkali grasslands of West Lake Farm."

Guo Yang said: "There is always a way to get water. I will be responsible for the ecological water supply of Shuangta Reservoir and Danghe River.

Today we have reached an agreement with the city to promote land fallow, water-saving irrigation, and water allocation. This multi-pronged approach will at least ensure that water reaches West Lake Farm."

"The engineering department's mission is planning, construction, and maintenance, and Tianhe Science Academy's mission is to breed plants that are drought-tolerant, salt-tolerant, and can conserve water resources."

Bi Qiang asked, "Can we leave the land fallow?"

"It will definitely work!"

In fact, Guo Yang was not sure in his heart that if he wanted to achieve the desired effect of fallow land, the state-owned farms must take the lead.

This involves millions of acres of land and tens of thousands of employees!

But we must not retreat at this time.

Jiahe has invested a lot of projects and money in the land to provide livelihoods for its employees. Those who make money move to the city to buy houses and leave the farm.

The fertility of the farm land has gradually recovered after being fallow, and it can also generate rental income by renting it out to Jiahe.

This is Guo Yang’s initial idea, and it is definitely feasible at least in West Lake Farm.

However, it still needs approval from senior management of the agricultural reclamation department and the province, and even the Agricultural Reclamation Corporation needs to find someone to coordinate and communicate.

We can only take one step at a time.

After entering the city, the group found a place to eat and rest for the night.

The next day, Lian Cun and others finally returned with drawn maps, plant specimens, seeds, etc. It can be said that they had a great harvest.

(End of this chapter)