Chapter 374 Earthworm breeding; tree planting

Jiuquan.

There is a chilly wind in the Gobi Desert.

A group of workers are operating an air-suction sea buckthorn fruit picker to harvest large-fruit sea buckthorn.

"What a pity. We picked the fruits too late. Many of them were eaten by birds. It's a waste."

"I heard that the sea buckthorn fruit that has overwintered will taste better. In any case, this kind of sea buckthorn rarely drops its fruit, but the birds are too annoying."

"It's good enough to have some harvest. Three years ago, who would have thought that sea buckthorn could be grown in this desert!"

"I heard there are mechanical reasons. Just imagine, a worker can only harvest 6-8 kg a day on average. How can this machine compare to the 1000 kg it can harvest a day?"

"That's right. Although this machine is not easy to use, it is really efficient."

A group of workers were chatting. The sea buckthorn and hemp in the Gobi Desert have long been a hot topic of discussion among people in the two cities.

The fruits started to form in the spring and summer of last year and are now ready for harvest, which is almost a year away. It is really exciting.

Now it’s finally the harvest.

How many people are looking forward to the word "good harvest". As long as there is a good harvest, this path will be sustainable.

Not far away, Guo Yang, wearing a thick down jacket, was walking through the sea buckthorn forest, squatting from time to time.

Although the yellow sea buckthorn fruits looked pleasing to the eye, Guo Yang's attention was not on them, but on the ground.

His right hand, wearing a woolen glove, held a small hoe and occasionally fiddled with it under the tree.

In another parallel operation lane, Xu Xuenong and two researchers from the Natural Enemies Center looked almost the same as him.

A few people came for no other reason than to catch earthworms.

Unfortunately, even after the improvement of the sea buckthorn forest, the soil in the Gobi Desert is still very shallow and the temperature is low, so the harvest is pitifully small.

After working for an hour or two, Guo Yang only found a few iron wire earthworms.

The rest of the species are hardly found.

"Hey, come and see, there is a different kind of earthworm here, it looks a bit like the green earthworm."

Guo Yang, Xu Xuenong and others crawled under the forest and found a thin earthworm in the sand.

I don't see anything special.

But with the help of the seed store, Guo Yang scanned the information and found out that this was indeed a variety that had never been collected before.

There are too few institutions in Northwest China that study earthworms. After contacting a lot, I found that no laboratory was breeding various types of earthworms.

There was no other way, Guo Yang could only mobilize the group's power to collect earthworm resources from all over the northwest.

In vegetation-rich areas such as the Qinling Mountains, Tianshan Mountains, and Qilian Mountains, a large amount of dead branches and leaves provide these areas with organic matter and humus suitable for the growth of earthworms.

At the same time, forest ecosystems can also provide adjustability for the living environment of earthworms.

Therefore, during this period in early March, Jiahe’s staff are not only busy with spring ploughing and tree planting, but also have to collect various native earthworm species.

Guo Yang himself couldn't stand the loneliness, so he always brought people from the Natural Enemy Center to the Gobi Desert to look for earthworms.

It’s just that earthworms like to stay in moist places with lots of soil, but the Gobi Desert is not only dry but also full of gravel, leaving basically no living space for earthworms.

Fortunately, in the past two or three years, sea buckthorn and hemp forests have also brought about many changes.

Occasional traces of earthworms were also found.

Perhaps because of the harsh living environment, these earthworms show better patience and resistance than the 'spoiled' earthworms.

So even though there are few discoveries, every discovery will definitely bring something new.

More than a week passed, and the earthworms collected from all over the country were gradually gathered in Jiuquan.

The newly established research team at the Natural Enemies Center quickly got into work, and Guo Yang took this opportunity to start his breeding journey.

Stress resistance is a common point, and all cultivated earthworm varieties must be cold-resistant and drought-resistant.

Secondly, bio-fertilizer, soil improvement, biological prevention, and waste treatment are the four major characteristics that are integrated with each other.

With sufficient germplasm resources, breeding seems to be going smoothly.

There are 2000 points of natural energy left from the last cultivation, and a lot of energy has been accumulated this month, so the energy is more than enough.

A total of four earthworm varieties were cultivated.

3个品种具有3条特性，1个品种具有4条特性，共消耗了3000多点自然能量。

All four varieties are excellent.

And the heavy metal treatment was also as expected.

Earthworms have a certain tolerance and accumulation capacity for heavy metals, but it is also limited.

Within their tolerance range, when the heavy metals absorbed by earthworms accumulate to a certain level, they will be excreted through feces and body secretions.

However, if the absorbed heavy metals exceed the tolerance range of earthworms, the excessive heavy metal content in the soil will directly poison the earthworms.

The three varieties with waste treatment characteristics bred this time are all earthworm varieties with high enrichment, high resistance and high biomass.

It can even affect the amount of heavy metals absorbed by hyperaccumulators.

Hyperaccumulator plants were also an unexpected gain for Guo Yang this time.

Hyperaccumulator plant tissues can also absorb heavy metals from the soil.

The combination of earthworms and heavy metal hyperaccumulator plants is the most important technical means for ecological restoration of heavy metal soil pollution.

However, there are also limitations. How heavy metals are processed after being absorbed by plants is the bottleneck facing the current development of phytoremediation technology.

Even if the earthworms that have absorbed heavy metals pose little harm, their feces can be used to produce organic fertilizer, but they cannot be used for feed processing.

However, one of the four earthworm species can be used as a dedicated feed species.

In addition to hyperaccumulators, there are also low-accumulator plants, such as rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans.

This is a very complex system.

There are currently more than 400 species of hyperaccumulators, and the number is increasing rapidly as more research is done.

For example, alfalfa, sunflower, and rapeseed are all enrichment plants.

Guo Yang decided that future training could be directed towards this aspect.

Statistics show that nearly 20% of my country's land has been affected by heavy metal pollution, and this data has received attention from top leaders.

For example, the land that is left fallow in Hunan Province this time is an area seriously polluted by heavy metals.

Earthworms + hyperaccumulator plants have broad application prospects in the future.

This is also a way to accumulate natural energy.

...

Tianhe Seed Science Research Institute.

Guo Yang and Bi Qiang talked about their ideas about earthworms and hyperaccumulator plants, and the latter immediately found a breakthrough point.

"We will build germplasm resource gardens and databases by region based on soil type, pollution level, climate and environmental conditions, etc."

"The ultimate goal is to cultivate and screen new heavy metal remediation varieties with large biomass, short growth cycle and high remediation efficiency."

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Okay, Brother Qiang, you are acting more and more like an expert now."

Bi Qiang was stunned. He hadn't heard the name "Brother Qiang" for some time.

"Practice makes perfect. When have you ever come to me, it's because you have new varieties and new ideas."

"Oh, there is resentment!"

Guo Yang thought about it and said, "One day when we are free, let's have a drink together."

"Sure, I'm always available. I'm just worried that you're busy and can't spare the time."

"You have to have time." Guo Yang could feel the resentment in Bi Qiang's heart. Although he did not treat Bi Qiang unfairly, in the beginning, Bi Qiang came to help him for not only the salary, but also emotional factors.

He has indeed been quite negligent in this regard in recent years. No matter how deep the relationship is, it will fade if there is no contact for a long time.

"How about this, I'll ask the chef to prepare a meal at home tonight."

Bi Qiang was a little surprised at Guo Yang's ability to take action. He really did whatever he thought of.

In the evening, Guo Yang and Bi Qiang chatted for a long time.

From my school days, to pepper breeding after work, to seed hunter, and scientific research institute.

Along the way, Guo Yang discovered that their interactions were mainly concentrated in study and work.

The exchanges in daily life still remain in the campus days.

Guo Yang thought this was not normal. He not only neglected his family, but also his friends around him.

I don’t have many close friends to begin with. If things continue like this, I’ll probably end up being a lonely man.

Bi Qiang's alcohol tolerance is not very good, and he probably rarely drinks. After a glass of wine, he felt a little dizzy, but he was in high spirits.

"Just drink it in one gulp. Who would drink with you?"

"I heard that you can drink a lot now, but few people can knock you down."

The saying goes that a weak player is addicted to provocations and keeps on making trouble, this is exactly what Bi Qiang is talking about today.

At first, Guo Yang was worried that alcohol would damage the researchers' brains. After all, alcohol can cause considerable damage to brain power.

But on second thought, Bi Qiang is now mainly engaged in administrative management, and the real scientific research is done by dedicated people.

He also has a seed shop. As ecological management projects are expanded, he basically doesn't have to worry about natural energy. He can easily cultivate any seeds he wants.

Seeing that Guo Yang didn't move, Bi Qiang became unhappy again.

"You are raising fish here, hurry up and drink!"

"Drink, no one is afraid of you." Guo Yang figured it out, his little arrogance came up, he picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"Come on, come on, keep going. We won't go home until we're drunk today." Bi Qiang shouted again, holding the wine glass.

Guo Yang saw that this was the food being delivered.

This was indeed the case. He exerted force and within half an hour, Bi Qiang fell asleep on the table.

"Little Pachi, you've only just started, and you're already done."

"Fortunately, I'm not a coward."

Guo Yang had a few more drinks alone, and looking at Bi Qiang who was sleeping soundly, he couldn't help but go back to the house to get his camera to take some video footage of him.

...

Jiahe has no shortage of sites for earthworm farming. Hexi Animal Husbandry, Falcon Agriculture, Qinghe Agriculture, and even Shahai Agriculture and Animal Husbandry can produce large amounts of livestock manure.

These are all high-quality feeds for farming earthworms.

Therefore, when Guo Yang decided to engage in earthworm farming and develop earthworm organic fertilizer, he immediately received responses from many companies.

Even Qiu Jingrang, Bao Xinyu, Wang Kuan, Lu Hanbin and others had a small quarrel over this.

Cow dung contains a large amount of organic matter, which is "fertile soil" for the growth of earthworms.

The earthworms raised with cow dung have high yields and large sizes, and are very popular among egg duck and lobster farmers. They can also be used as fish bait, traditional Chinese medicine, feed, bird feed, and to produce organic fertilizer.

Among them, Jiahe’s organic fertilizer can be digested by itself, and earthworm meal feed can also be sold together with soybean meal. It is a good project to boost performance.

Several people had a big fight over this.

But in the end, Guo Yang still put this project on Hexi Animal Husbandry.

Not for any other reason, simply because of the large quantity.

Hexi Animal Husbandry produces nearly 300 million tons of cow dung a year, and has distribution networks all over the country.

It is more convenient to produce earthworm organic fertilizer directly into Denong or into farmland.

As for the other companies, they can only wait until the new earthworm species reproduce rapidly before they can start operations.

...

After staying in the office for a few days, Guo Yang couldn't sit still anymore, so he took Luo Xiu and went straight to the countryside again.

It is still a little chilly in the northwest in early spring, but that cannot stop farmers’ enthusiasm for working.

Farmers across the Hexi Corridor have begun tilling the land, and some have even started sowing early despite the wind and sand.

Guo Yang first went to the Shule River Basin. The ice and snow had not melted yet, but fallow rotation had been mobilized in advance.

After one year of development, drip irrigation water-saving equipment has also become popular in the Shule River Basin.

Beside the Shule River on the northwest side of Dunhuang, Guo Yang saw Niu Hulin again. His black down jacket also looked dusty.

As soon as he saw Guo Yang, he shouted excitedly: "Boss, the ancient river channel will be dredged soon."

"Thank you, well done."

Guo Yang had already seen it along the way.

From the Shuangta Reservoir to the wetlands at the core of Dunhuang West Lake, the straight-line distance is about 260 kilometers, and the river distance is more than 300 kilometers.

The river channel constructed by Jiahe Ecological Governance does not lead to the hinterland, but ends about 30 kilometers east of the West Lake Wetland.

Even so, the river channels built exceeded 300 kilometers.

There is also water in the lower reaches of the river. Some water melted from the snow on the mountains seeps through layer after layer and still flows into the river.

On both sides of the river, the planted poplars have already sprouted, and there are also dry shrubs waiting for spring to come back.

Niu Hulin smiled and said, "When there is more water and the temperature is higher, we can start planting Hanhai kenaf, sea buckthorn and Xanthoceras sorbifolia trees."

Both sides of the river are both ecological protection areas and suitable agricultural development areas.

If we persist in water-saving and fallow policy for another two years, the water flow from the upper reaches of the Shule River will only increase.

Similarly, the Dang River, which runs through Dunhuang, is expected to merge with the Shule River again and flow into the West Lake wetland.

Guo Yang looked out at the endless Gobi Plain and asked, "How is the planning for the West Lake Wetland and Kumdag Desert going?"

"A detailed implementation plan for the wetland has been prepared," Niu Hulin said without hesitation, "Last year, water was transported to West Lake for ecological purposes, and the wetland ecology is already recovering."

"I think some tourist routes can already be developed in a preliminary way."

Guo Yang said: "There is no rush for development. We should first improve the environment so that we can retain people."

Niu Hulin smiled and said, "Some people just like this authentic Gobi Desert."

"Let's wait another year or two. Safety comes first." Guo Yang said, "The environment here is still too bad. If one or two accidents happen, it may take one or two years to restore the reputation."

Niu Hulin nodded and said, "In a year or two, not only will the river scenery be beautiful, but the desert route will also be initially formed."

"That's the truth."

Guo Yang did not dare to go deep into the Dunhuang wetland in this season, but he still went to the Lucaojing Protection Station in Erdun Village.

Here, Wu Xiong and Bao Hairong from the West Lake Management Bureau told him good news.

The ecological water transfer from upstream has prevented the West Lake wetland from shrinking.

At the same time, the phenomenon of groundwater overflow in the wetland has been restored, which shows that the fallow and water-saving policy has also been effective in Dunhuang.

Wu Xiong said: "With the funding from Jiahe, several protection stations have been built inside and outside the wetland. Last year, workers were organized to plant a lot of trees in the reserve and release Przewalski's horses..."

"Now everyone in the bureau is hoping that Jiahe will focus on the reserve as soon as possible."

Guo Yang looked at the people in the management bureau, including Wu Xiong, Bao Hairong, Yuan Haifeng, Zhao Xin, Sun Xing and others.

There are experienced forestry workers who have been working for 20 to 30 years, as well as new graduates entering the industry.

These people are now passionate about West Lake Wetlands.

This is the barrier of the Hexi Corridor.

It is also the gateway to Lop Nur.

Jiahe not only has ideas about the West Lake Wetland, but also about the Kumtag Desert.

Even Jiahe’s water conservancy project on the Milan River, its investment in Luo Potassium, and its greening research in Lop Nur Town are all under the attention of the West Lake Administration.

Lop Nur is known as a forbidden zone for life, but Jiahe wants to create another green area here.

In ancient times, the water of Shule River was able to reach Lop Nur, but the uplift of the surface blocked it all. However, upon closer observation, traces of the ancient river channel are still clearly visible.

It seems wishful thinking to let the water of Shule River reach Lop Nur again now, but the West Lake Management Bureau believes that Jiahe has this hope.

Guo Yang was not aware of what everyone was thinking, he was just implementing his own ideas step by step.

"Once the ecological water supply is sufficient, restoring the ecology of the West Lake wetland will be a natural thing to do.

By then, saline-alkali land and desert will be transformed into green grasslands, red willows and poplar forests. "

Wu Xiong said: "I look forward to that day coming soon!"

Guo Yang smiled and said, "Don't worry, this goal will definitely be achieved before Director Wu retires."

...

In late March, as the soil gradually thawed, people in various parts of the Hexi Corridor began to plant Xanthoceras sorbifolia trees.

Each Xanthoceras sorbifolia seedling is more than 60cm tall, with a ground diameter greater than 0.8cm and a well-developed root system. They are continuously shipped from Zhangye nursery to various places.

In the Heihe River Basin, at the junction of Zhangye Gaotai and Jiuquan Jinta, it is plagued by sandstorms and salinity all year round.

Nowadays, people are also mobilized to plant Xanthoceras sorbifolia trees here.

Many villagers responded positively to the call, reclaimed desert and saline-alkali land, and planted saline-alkali trees.

However, there are still doubts among the villagers, and from time to time someone would say discouraging words.

“Will there really be enough water here?”

"If there is not enough water, it is impossible to irrigate. How much water can be irrigated in such a large area? If the trees don't survive, it will be in vain. It will also delay my farm work and my job to earn money."

Such words made many originally ambitious villagers back off.

Many people went to the village committee and also to Jiahe.

When Guo Yang arrived here, he happened to see a planting supervisor from Jiahe Biochemical standing in the middle of the crowd explaining to the villagers.

"The water will surely come."

"Jiahe will not abandon any of its cooperating farmers, and every planned Xanthoceras sorbifolia forest will get its due share of irrigation."

After much persuasion, the villagers were finally appeased.

Planting supervisor Cheng Jiangang had just breathed a sigh of relief when a voice came to his ear.

"It seems that you are not confident enough about whether there will be water upstream!"

"Boss!" Cheng Jian was startled and said with some concern: "The water in the Heihe River Basin is indeed not enough.

This place is just above Zhengyi Gorge, in the middle reaches of the Heihe River, so water consumption is strictly controlled.”

"Don't worry." Guo Yang said with ease, "This year, Zhangye's water allocation will be tilted towards the Xanthoceras sorbifolia project."

Modern seed industry and green vegetables are the two major agricultural pillar industries in Zhangye and are also major water users.

It just so happens that Jiahe has a lot of say in these two areas.

Especially for corn and spring rapeseed seed production, with the formation of Jiahe Jinta seed production base, huge competitive pressure has been created for Zhangye's seed production industry.

At the same time, the surplus of corn production has also invisibly reduced the demand for seeds.

This forced Zhangye to seek change and get on board the train of Xanthoceras sorbifolia.

Returning farmland to forest and grassland, crop rotation and fallow, water-saving drip irrigation... Zhangye has almost replicated Jiuquan's approach.

The middle reaches of the Heihe River are basically located in Zhangye, that is, between Yingluo Gorge and Zhengyi Gorge. It is an important grain-producing area and the economic center of the basin.

The upper reaches above Yingluo Gorge belong to Qilian County in Qinghai Province.

The lower reaches below Zhengyi Gorge belong to Jinta and Ejinaqi of Mongolian Province, and most of it is desert Gobi.

In the last century, water consumption increased dramatically due to the rapid development of Zhangye in the middle reaches.

This will eventually lead to the interruption of flow in the tailwater river, the drying up of lakes, the death of trees, the degradation of grasslands, and increasingly serious land desertification and desertification.

The West Juyan Lake and the East Juyan Lake dried up in 1961 and 1992 respectively, and sandstorms occurred frequently.

Therefore, the state clarified the water allocation indicators for the middle and lower reaches of the Heihe River in 1997.

Zhangye in the middle reaches must ensure sufficient water discharge.

The area near Zhengyi Gorge happens to be the dividing point, which has led to a long-term shortage of water in this area.

This is a deep-rooted belief.

...

Guo Yang’s experience in the Heihe River Basin made him realize the fear of water shortage among farmers in the oasis agricultural areas.

It should be said that the entire Northwest has an obsession with water.

At this time, it is useless to just talk about it, we have to look at the actual planting results.

In terms of variety, the variety of Xanthoceras sorbifolia is named Golden Snail, which is suitable for growing in arid and desertified areas in the north. It is cold-resistant, drought-resistant and saline-alkali-resistant.

There is no problem with stress resistance either.

But after all, it is only a variety with 289 points of natural energy, which is good enough for making cooking oil.

However, there is still much room for improvement in the production of biodiesel, and we must continue to work hard on yield and stress resistance breeding in the future.

Guo Yang is also confident that he can solve the water problem, at least to ensure that there will be no problems with the trees planted this year.

In the medium and long term, the retreat of the Qilian Glacier and the degradation of permafrost in the upper reaches also threaten the incoming water.

The development of Stipa and Abies should also be put on the agenda.

But this is still just a matter of working with limited water resources and does not fundamentally solve the problem.

Fundamental measures still need to be taken on the Hongqi River.

A new epoch-making Xanthoceras sorbifolia tree species created for bioenergy must be put on the agenda.

The four major river basins of Shule River, Taolai River, Heihe River and Shiyang River are the main distribution areas of Xanthoceras orientalis in the Hexi Corridor.

There is widespread concern about water shortage in the middle and lower reaches.

In order to solve the hidden dangers this year, Guo Yang specially visited the leaders of Jiayuguan, Jiuquan, Zhangye, Jinchang and Wuwei.

Ensure that this year's measures such as returning farmland to fallow land and saving water can be implemented smoothly.

More than 10 million mu of arable land in several cities have been converted to planting Xanthoceras sorbifolia, and together with the land that has been fallow, the total amount can be at least 2 to 3 million mu.

The water saved is definitely enough for planting trees.

What moved Guo Yang was that several cities patted their chests and said they would guarantee to complete the task as planned.

Originally, Guo Yang thought that if the progress was not satisfactory, he might have to suppress the prices of grain and seeds this year to force farmers to switch to growing Xanthoceras sorbifolia.

But now it seems completely unnecessary.

The same thing also happened in the gully areas of the Loess Plateau such as Qingyang and Pingliang in Longzhong. Water shortage cannot stop the enthusiasm for planting trees.

As the ice and snow melted, a vigorous tree planting campaign quickly began.

(End of this chapter)