Chapter 34 Survey and Sampling
"There is a dry toilet behind the house." Old man Zhong pointed to the path next to the house.

Xiang Tianshan walked in hurriedly.

After seeing this scene, Guo Yang was certain in his heart that there was something wrong with Old Xiang's health, and it was a problem with his urinary system.

It's either cystitis or prostatitis. On the way here, I didn't see him drink any water, but he had already urinated two or three times.

Dr. Zhou, Zhang Xiaochuan and the other two didn't pay much attention to it. They were still worried about the water source of the saline-alkali wasteland.

Jinta County is already dry and rainless with high evaporation. If there is no systematic water diversion project, the difficulty and quality of the management of saline-alkali wastelands will be affected.

Subsequent forage planting, as well as a series of plans that may be involved in the future, such as cattle and sheep breeding, product processing, etc. will be affected.

Although the province has promised water conservancy projects and road support, the village is still so desolate and remote.

The length and difficulty of the new roads and irrigation ditches that need to be built are definitely beyond the province's expectations, and the funds required will have to be greatly increased.

In this case, it remains to be seen whether the supporting facilities promised by the province can be implemented.

Village chief Xu Zonggang didn't care what Dr. Zhou and others thought, and couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

"Boss Guo, I'm familiar with the situation around here. I'll lead the way for you."

Guo Yang looked at the hunched body of Village Chief Xu and couldn't bear to let him run around in the fields with a few people in the hot summer.

"Why don't you find two young guys and go with Dr. Zhou? The sun is too strong here, and there's no need for you to suffer with them."

Xu Zonggang waved his hand and said, "It's okay, it's okay. Farmers, who hasn't been exposed to the sun? Besides, it's really hard to find young guys here."

At this time, Dr. Zhou pulled Guo Yang aside and asked in a low voice: "Mr. Guo, are you sure you want to contract this wasteland?"

Guo Yang nodded firmly.

“This is too difficult!”

Guo Yang smiled and said: "It is precisely because of the poor conditions that I chose this place. I will feel a sense of accomplishment if I can turn this white wasteland into a green grassland."

And for Guo Yang, the worse the soil conditions are, the more natural energy benefits the seed store will gain after restoration.

Dr. Zhou did not dwell on it any more. After all, Guo Yang was an investor and he was just giving advice to the owner based on the actual situation.

When Xiang Tianshan came back, Dr. Zhou introduced to everyone the tasks that needed to be completed in this survey.

Now that the owner has determined the project location, they need to prepare for the subsequent detailed planning and design.

In addition to gaining a preliminary understanding of the distribution of saline-alkali land in Shuangqiao Village and Yuanba Village, this on-site survey also requires the identification of at least 50 representative sample sites based on a comprehensive consideration of factors such as geographical location, area of ​​saline-alkali land, and farming conditions.

随后还需要对每个样地按照梅花点法采集东南西北中5个样点，每个样点挖出土壤剖面后，然后采集深度为0～20cm、20～40cm的土壤样品。

Part of these samples will be used to measure soil bulk density and water content, while the other part will be taken back to the laboratory for air drying and sieving to determine soil pH, ammonium nitrogen, available phosphorus, quick-acting potassium and other physical and chemical properties.

With these data, targeted improvement plans can be formulated to achieve twice the result with half the effort. After listening to Dr. Zhou's introduction, Guo Yang realized that this was not a task that could be completed in a day or two.

20 representative sampling sites need to be selected from 50 acres of land, and 250 sampling points need to be excavated. The soil in the saline-alkali land is hard, so the workload is really huge.

In addition, the roads are inconvenient. Although off-road vehicles can drive on the saline-alkali beach, they will be doomed if they encounter wetlands that are prone to sedimentation.

So it takes a lot of time just for the survey, plus the time to come up with a plan later...

Guo Yang doesn't have so much time to wait for them to complete all the designs before starting construction. As soon as the villagers' wheat is ripe, he will start construction.

Jinta County mostly grows spring wheat, which is sown in March and harvested in July. Judging from the maturity of the wheat, it will only take about ten days at most.

So he took advantage of Dr. Zhou's rest and interrupted to ask, "Dr. Zhou, when will your follow-up survey and measurement team arrive?"

Dr. Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead and thought for a while before saying, "The earliest will be the day after tomorrow. Since the project address has been determined, the three of us will not go back yet and will stay here and start working."

For those who work in the field of agricultural project design and planning, traveling around the country on business is the norm, and they have even stayed in places with conditions worse than Shuangqiao Village.

Guo Yang had no reason to refuse. It would only be beneficial for him to complete the survey and planning design as soon as possible.

He also suggested to Dr. Zhou: "Then you can ask Village Chief Xu to help you recruit a few villagers in the village, give them some labor fees, and teach them how to do it when taking samples, and let them help dig the soil. This will not only be easier, but also much faster."

Dr. Zhou also nodded in agreement, mainly because Guo Yang had already paid a design fee according to the contract and they had no shortage of funds.

"Okay, then please help me find six people, Village Chief Xu, and pay each of them 10 yuan per day for their labor."

"In addition, we need to rent a house in the village temporarily. I would also like to trouble Village Chief Xu to help us find a place with slightly better conditions and someone with better cooking skills."

Xu Zonggang hurriedly agreed. 10 yuan a day for labor was not a lot, but for the villagers who made a living by working in the fields, it was a rare extra income.

After everything was arranged, a rented pickup truck was left for Dr. Zhou and his two companions.

Guo Yang prepared to take Zhang Wei and Xiang Tianshan to Jinta County.

Seeing that the few people were about to leave, Village Chief Xu hurried forward and asked curiously: "Mr. Guo, I haven't asked you what you are going to plant on the wasteland you contracted? How much can you pay for the villagers' arable land?"

Guo Yang smiled and said, "We are going to plant alfalfa. As for the villagers' arable land, because it is saline-alkali land, the contract fee will be temporarily calculated based on the annual yield of 300 kilograms of medium-grade hard red wheat, which is about 200 yuan per mu."

Looking at the old village chief who was lost in thought, Guo Yang said, "I'll have to trouble Village Chief Xu to persuade the villagers later. We are going to contract about 20 mu of saline-alkali land this time. The subsequent construction and forage planting will also require a large number of workers. In addition to the contract fee, you can also earn a stable labor fee."

On the way back to Jinta County, after leaving the wheat fields in the village, there are still vast salt marshes.

The dry and hard land was shaking with white salt, which was a little dazzling under the sunlight. The cracks formed by the compaction of the land looked bumpy.

Xiang Tianshan has spoken very little since he entered the village. Guo Yang thought he was frightened by the barren land of Shuangqiao Village.

"What's wrong, Lao Xiang? Have you lost confidence? But you still have to give me a technical proposal, otherwise I won't pay you the technical service fee."

(End of this chapter)