Chapter 724

"How much rice seed should be sown in one mu of land so it won't fall over? Last year I sowed six jin of rice seed in one mu, and later it was too dense, so it all fell over; I only harvested two hundred jin per mu."

Many people were asking such questions, but some also said, "We have farmed for a lifetime; do we still need others to teach us how to farm?"

"That's right, isn't this a joke?"

Su Xinghui stood up and said to everyone, "Everyone, I am Mayor Su Xinghui. Yes, everyone has farmed for a lifetime, but isn't your current yield not high? Not to mention the income. So we still need scientific farming and still need to plant some crops with higher economic added value!"

Only then did everyone recognize that this was the mayor who had kicked the dog at Xiong Ximei's door that day. Their voices suddenly became enthusiastic, "So it's Mayor Su! Mayor Su, we want to thank you!"

"That's right, Mayor Su, you have eliminated a great evil for our village!"

"Mayor Su, come to our house for lunch at noon!"

Peng Yuwen said, "That won't do. Today I have already agreed with Mayor Su and the others that they will all eat at my house."

Another old farmer said, "Yuwen, you are alone at home; can you cook for so many people? Better let Mayor Su come to my house to eat. I will let my old wife and daughter-in-law go home to cook right now."

Peng Yuwen said, "Brother Yugui, don't take advantage of the situation! I have already agreed. At worst, I'll go to the grocery store to buy some cooked food later."

The old farmer wanted to argue further, but Su Xinghui laughed, "I appreciate everyone's kindness. I have indeed agreed with Grandpa Peng to eat at his house. How about this, I will eat at Grandpa Peng's house today, and if I come next time, I will eat at your house."

Hearing Su Xinghui say this, those few people could only nod and say, "Then Mayor Su, come to our house to eat next time!"

Su Xinghui nodded, "It's a deal, but you still have to pay for the meal according to the regulations after eating."

Everyone said, "Why pay for a meal?"

Su Xinghui said, "Now we have stipulated this in the town. If we go to the village to eat, we must pay for the meal according to the number of people according to the regulations, and we cannot increase the burden on the villagers. Your lives are not easy either. If we don't pay according to the regulations, we will be criticized and punished."

Liu Yongjun said, "That's right, now the town has stipulated that cadres going to the village must either return to the town to eat or pay for the meal after eating in the village. This regulation was proposed by Mayor Su. If Mayor Su takes the lead in not complying, then this regulation cannot be implemented."

Hearing the two of them say this, the villagers nodded and said, "Alright, then we'll pay for the meal."

Su Xinghui said, "Then everyone sit down first and listen to the experts. If you have any questions, you can also ask these experts."

The villagers sat down on the ground one by one, and Luo Ping said, "Then everyone, tell us first how you usually farm and what crops you plant."

The villagers deferred for a while, and finally let Peng Yuwen be the representative to talk about this.

Peng Yuwen said, "We usually plow the land with oxen in early June, sow rice seeds, or transplant seedlings, then release water into the fields, build ridges to conserve water, and conserve water until the rice starts to tiller, then we start to sun the fields, then we fertilize when we should, weed when we should, catch insects when we should, and we can harvest at the end of September or early October. After harvesting, we plant a season of wheat or rapeseed. We basically don't manage this season much, at most pulling some grass."

"Tillering" is the local dialect here, which means when the rice starts to branch.

Luo Ping asked again, "Then what is the highest yield you can get? And the lowest?"

Peng Yuwen said, "The highest yield of my family's rice has reached over six hundred jin, and the most miserable time was when rice planthoppers occurred during the grain-filling stage, basically resulting in no harvest. As for that season of wheat, no matter how diligent we are, it won't reach five hundred jin. Usually, it's not bad to have two or three hundred jin."

Luo Ping said, "Then after paying the public grain and selling all the harvested grain, I'm afraid there isn't much money left, right?"

Peng Yuwen nodded, "That's right. Sometimes, when the harvest is not good, the money from selling grain is not enough to pay the levies and overall planning, and we still have to incur debt."

Huang Chuanyong said, "This shows that we still have to farm scientifically."

Luo Ping said, "That's right, scientific farming can increase your yield and increase your income. I can guarantee that as long as you farm scientifically and there are no major natural disasters, your rice yield per mu can be stabilized at over one thousand jin. The grain yield of this season will be equal to your original two seasons, and you can also plant some cash crops in winter, and your income will be greatly increased."

Peng Yuwen said, "Then this expert, please tell us carefully."

Luo Ping asked about the methods the villagers usually use for fertilization and medication. After listening, Luo Ping said, "The amount of chemical fertilizer everyone uses now is a bit small, and there are some problems with the method of applying chemical fertilizer. Not only is the utilization rate not high, but it also has an impact on the soil, which will cause pollution and reduce soil fertility."

Luo Ping talked about some scientific fertilization methods, such as soil testing and fertilization, deep application of fertilizer, increasing the application of organic fertilizer, using nitrogen fertilizer synergists, etc. These methods are very effective.

For example, soil testing and fertilization can target crops, supplement the elements lacking in the soil, make crops grow better, and also make the soil more fertile.

For example, deep application of fertilizer can avoid the loss of water and fertilizer and improve the utilization rate of chemical fertilizer, which can be increased by about 30% at most. This is equivalent to reducing the amount of fertilizer used by 30%.

Increasing the application of organic fertilizer can increase soil organic matter and soil microorganisms, improve soil structure, improve soil absorption capacity, and increase the adsorption capacity of soil colloids for toxic substances such as heavy metals.

Nitrogen fertilizer synergists, also known as nitrification inhibitors, can inhibit the conversion of ammonium nitrogen in the soil into nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen, improve the fertilizer efficiency of chemical fertilizer, and reduce soil pollution. After applying nitrogen fertilizer synergists, the loss of nitrogen fertilizer can be reduced by 20%~30%. Because the activity of nitrifying bacteria is inhibited, the nitrification of ammonium nitrogen slows down, making nitrogen exist in the form of ammonium for a longer time, reducing pollution to the soil.

Luo Ping said, "We have already collected some soil samples from some of your plots and will take them back to the school's laboratory for testing. Then we will let you apply chemical fertilizer in a targeted manner. If you use the methods I just mentioned, the cost of increasing chemical fertilizer will not be very high, but the effect of increasing production will be very obvious."

Peng Yuwen said, "This expert, you said it so well. We will definitely follow what you said and fertilize scientifically."

Luo Ping nodded and said, "The rice seeds you are using now can all be saved by yourselves, right? You are not using hybrid rice?"

Peng Yuwen said, "Of course they can all be saved. Hybrid rice seeds are too expensive. One mu of land requires several jin of rice seeds, and the rice seeds alone cost dozens of yuan. If there is any natural disaster and we end up with no harvest, we will still lose money."

Luo Ping said, "This is also a problem. Hybrid rice seeds are quite expensive and cannot be saved. You must buy new seeds every year, and this seed money is not a small amount. In fact, there are some good varieties of conventional rice. I will recommend some to you next year. As long as you plant them well, the yield will not be much lower than hybrid rice."