Chapter 107 Chapter 107 Lettuce and Enoki Mushrooms
With the joint efforts of several parties, the planting industry in the Xisha area has been further developed in full swing.
The new ecological zone was only a few dozen kilometers from their location, making it very quick to reach by car or by foot. Furthermore, their location was midway along the border, with soldiers patrolling daily, providing a convenient opportunity to care for the plants.
Ye Ning's shovel is now directly used for the greening and ecological zone construction in Xisha District.
The soil where she lived was actually quite fertile. Others might only be able to use animal offal and the like as compost, but she had accumulated a lot of plant waste, such as fruit peels, wheat straw, and watermelon vines...
When she said she wanted to put it in the compost, everyone felt very sad and was reluctant to let it go.
Later, she personally threw in the first batch of plants, and then everyone gradually accepted this method. But even after accepting it, every time she threw in the plants, their expressions were as if someone was cutting their flesh with a knife.
However, composting this organic matter is the best option. High-quality organic fertilizer can provide the soil with rich nutrients and microbial communities. The beneficial microorganisms within can effectively inhibit soil pathogens, reducing the occurrence of pests and diseases. Humus can also enhance plant resistance to stress.
Moreover, the crops in the Xisha area have begun to be harvested during this period because Ye Ning visits them from time to time.
The first things to be harvested are mushrooms and lettuce.
It only takes 30-60 days for white button mushrooms and enoki mushrooms to grow from inoculation to fruiting. After their seeds are optimized, this period is compressed to 20-40 days. With the help of Ye Ning's special ability, they can harvest once a week.
Lettuce is also a fast-growing leafy vegetable. After optimization, it can fully grow in about 30 days. Originally, each lettuce plant could produce hundreds to thousands of seeds, but after optimization, this number has stabilized at over a thousand.
By precisely controlling the growth and assisting with the special abilities of Ye Ning, we can ensure that the quality rate of seeds reaches 100%.
The amazing thing about lettuce is that even if you only cut off the outer leaves and keep the growing point, you can still grow a complete head of lettuce hydroponically. Because the growing point has a strong ability to divide and differentiate, in addition to lettuce, leafy green vegetables such as spinach, water celery, and bok choy can continue to grow after removing the leaves.
However, during this process, you need to pay attention to the water quality and add nutrients regularly. But in general, the operation process is very simple.
The first batch of lettuce and mushrooms was intended to be sold as a benefit for the residents of Xisha District.
Therefore, the price cannot be too high, and we must ensure that every resident has the opportunity to eat it.
With the current production, it's definitely impossible to give each person a head of lettuce, but if they divide it per person, everyone can have a taste. Because each head of lettuce they grow weighs over 2,000 grams, and the heart weighs about 500 grams.
In other words, the first round of edible part of a lettuce is about 1,500 grams. Based on this data, they determined the price of a lettuce at 200 federal coins according to the unit price per person and the weight of 150 grams of lettuce per person.
If they can grow a new round of lettuce hydroponically later, each person will only need to spend 20 federal coins to eat 300 grams of lettuce.
When the results were calculated, the professors in the Xisha area couldn't help rubbing their eyes.
One professor even trembled, "Am I seeing this right? 20 federal coins, is it really 20 federal coins?!"
"That's right, this is equivalent to 2 federal coins, which can buy 30 grams of plants!"
"The per capita disposable income of Xisha District residents has reached 4,000 federal coins per month. At this price, everyone can afford to eat plants!"
Everyone present was very excited. "If people from other districts knew that plants in Xisha District were priced this way, they would probably want to move here immediately."
The marketing department member pushed up his glasses and said, "This is the first batch of plants. We're selling them at cost. They definitely won't be this cheap later."
The people in the marketing department had considered this before. Only when plants are cheap can everyone eat them, but they definitely cannot be too cheap.
After all, they had invested a huge amount upfront, and even after the first batch of crops was planted, the overall farming process was still at a loss. Furthermore, the reason the Xisha region was able to enjoy the crops so quickly was entirely due to Ye Ning's presence there. Her labor costs should also be taken into account.
There are also costs associated with the research and planting of other crops in the later stages. However, they have already pre-informed residents that the initial launch price will be a very low welfare price.
Ye Ning nodded. "Actually, if plants are planted on a large scale, the price will go down. So one day, everyone will be able to eat fruits and vegetables freely."
Other vegetables, such as legumes, such as peas and lentils, melons, such as cucumbers and pumpkins, and string beans, are also being grown on a large scale.
She hadn't really eaten beans before, but she had read a lot about them. They were incredibly productive, with newly cultivated seeds capable of producing 6,000 to 7,000 kilograms of beans per acre.
This yield is truly astonishing. Once full-scale planting is underway, it won't be a problem for everyone in Xisha District to get a few beans. If the yield is high enough, they can sell it to other districts.
Hou Lin looked at the huge lettuce on the table, and thought of the time when he followed Hou Sen across half of the Sea Dust Star to auction the mint.
Back then, there weren't really plant species, only plant levels. But he hadn't heard anyone mention plant levels in a long time.
Because every plant grown by Ye Ning is of the highest quality and produces excellent results.
In fact, even a few months ago, when Ye Ning said that everyone would be able to eat plants freely in the future, he didn't believe it.
But all this happened naturally.
Ye Ning always said that there is strength in numbers. Hou Lin felt that it was because she was powerful enough, otherwise how could everything run so smoothly.
The next day, residents of Xisha District who were still working hard on their tasks for the adoption activity heard this great news.
In order to let everyone feel the speed of hydroponic lettuce more intuitively, they also specially produced a promotional video to let everyone learn how lettuce with only the growing point left can be turned into a whole head of lettuce.
Everyone marveled at the magic of lettuce while being shocked by its unit price.
"Am I reading this correctly? A lettuce seed costs 100 federal coins, but now a mature lettuce only costs 200 federal coins???"
"You have to have a household registration to buy the Xisha District resident benefits, and they're limited. But isn't this cheaper?! Only 20 yuan per person!"
"The lettuce in our area has only just sprouted, but the ones in Xisha are already ready to eat. Woohoo, when is Master Ye Ning going to Qitaqu?"
"I have good news. Our company is planning to move to Xisha District and has recently asked if we would like to move with them."
"Damn, I've got material for my dreams tonight. When will my idiot boss realize that he should take us to the Xisha District too?"
"Don't worry, other areas will be able to grow it slowly, but I don't know what the price will be."
…
As soon as the price came out, not only the residents of other districts, but also the governments of other districts became a little uneasy.
Although the Xisha District has repeatedly stated that they will not sell crops to people from other districts, this means that the Xisha District has become more attractive to people from other districts.
Originally, everyone in the ecological zone was on the same page, cultivating crops that were not edible. But now that the crops have emerged, other zones have discovered they are miles behind the Xisha zone.
In addition to the various problems encountered during the planting process, the size and quality of the crops they grow also vary. However, thanks to Master Ye Ning, the Xisha District is able to achieve a highly consistent and perfect plant growth rate.
If this continues, they'll all want to flee to the Xisha District. That wasn't the original plan; the original plan also included proposals to strengthen logistics channels between districts and plant circulation.
Ye Ning had indeed originally planned to do so, but when Yan Gang appeared, they realized that they still had to expand their influence.
The best way to expand influence is to attract more people to the Xisha District.
This way of coming here can be to become a resident of the Xisha District, or to further strengthen cooperation with the Xisha District.
These were all being advanced by professionals, and Ye Ning would occasionally listen to their progress reports, but her main focus was still on planting.
In addition to selling to the outside world, Ye Ning also bought a batch of lettuce at her own expense and sent it to primary schools in Xisha District.
However, due to the increase in the number of residents in Xisha District, the primary school has been expanded several times, and a new school has been planned in the new urban area.
Ye Ning simply gave them a lot of fruit, such as bananas, and mixed them with lettuce and water to make a green vegetable juice for them. In case they didn't like it, she also added a little sugar.
It sounds dark, but it tastes good. It has a sweet taste and can cleanse the intestines.
The effect is really good. Many children go to the toilet several times a day, but they don’t feel uncomfortable.
So everyone who comes back from the toilet feels that their body has been purified and the pollution in the body has been discharged.
The subsequent effects became more and more mysterious, and this combination directly became a popular recipe.
However, they didn't have bananas, so they had to use mint instead.
The taste is a little strange when you put it in your mouth, but anything put together with mint will be dominated by the mint's overbearing coolness, so it will not taste bad.
Ye Ning was busy all day and asked Hou Lin, "Hasn't the capital district announced anything about Yan Gang yet?"
Hou Lin nodded and looked at Gu Su.
The Xisha District gave the video to the Capital District. After all, Yan Gang is from the Capital District, but the Capital District has not taken any action in the past few days, and no one knows what it is thinking.
Gu Su immediately said, "The Federation said they are sending people to investigate this matter, and asked the Capital District not to make it public yet, so as not to boost the morale of the rebels."
Hou Lin rolled his eyes. "Investigate? What can they find out? They've been investigating the rebels for a long time, but after decades of investigation, they've found nothing. If the rebels hadn't shown up on their own, we wouldn't have known they were so powerful."
Gu Su nodded. "We also think the Federation's reaction is strange. Furthermore, the Federation's tax revenue has decreased significantly recently. They're already in talks with the Heyang District Chief about sending people to the Xisha District."
Ye Ning: "Are there a lot of people?"
Hou Lin: "A lot. They said before that the spacecraft research in the direct jurisdiction controls the fate of the entire civilization of the Sea Dust Star, so it must be well protected. This protection will increase the number of people, right?"
The Special Administrative Region had indeed suffered numerous attacks from rebels, and their attacks were horrific, ranging from using human bombs to destroying facilities to inserting viruses to corrupting research data. Their methods were endless, which was why the presence of so many troops in the Special Administrative Region was acceptable.
"Don't always think you have a lot of people around you. They have the largest army in the entire federation. They usually talk about arranging people to help in other districts, but look at how many times they have come to Xisha District before."
You can’t blame other districts for being dissatisfied. Some things just make you feel more uncomfortable the more you think about them.
Gu Yu: "The district chief has already refused. The pollution tide in the Xisha area has been quiet, and the existing number of soldiers is actually saturated."
The more people there are, the better. Such a large number of people need money to support them. Although the Xisha District has money, it cannot invest so much money in the military for the time being.
Moreover, several surrounding districts have established close cooperative relations with the Xisha District. If something really happens, troops can be dispatched from nearby as quickly as possible.
Ye Ning nodded. She was becoming more and more curious about the Directly Administered Territory.
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