Lin Sanqi handed over all the tasks, including opening a branch, finding a location, and obtaining license approval, to Lin Tianhua, the general manager of Lingnantang Company, and Lin Hai, the branch manager.
Lin Sanqi didn't want to know what tricks were involved in obtaining those licenses. He was a deputy section-level cadre and a member of the D committee. He was full of justice and hated these dirty deals the most.
He personally went to the Northeast for two main purposes: one was to establish a branch in the Northeast to solve the problem of ginseng supply, and the other was to purchase high-yield grain seeds and deliver them until 1960.
Although Dongguang Province is located in the temperate zone, the weather is very suitable for agricultural production, and even rice can be grown three times a year.
However, with the development of Dongguan Province's economy, the proportion of primary industries such as agriculture has become lower and lower, and the amount of cultivated land has become less and less, so Dongguan Province does not have a strong seed company.
Even if there are such companies, they mainly focus on hybrid rice.
However, given the climate and soil conditions in the Ming Tombs in 1960, it was definitely impossible to grow rice. The only options were to grow high-yield, drought-resistant crops such as corn, wheat, and sweet potatoes. The first choice would definitely be the Northeast, known as the Northern Granary.
Sales Department of Harvest Seed Company.
This is the most powerful seed company in Northeast China. Its main varieties are corn and wheat, and it is very famous in the country.
Lin Sanqi and Yin Lianyi walked around the sales department of the seed company as if they were visiting a museum, stopping and starting. For city kids, they were full of curiosity about agricultural production.
Yin Lianyi was still a little confused and asked curiously:
"Hey, Lin Sanqi, aren't we in the medicinal herb business? Even if you want to investigate, you should focus on the medicinal herb market, right? Why are you suddenly interested in agriculture? Is Lingnan Hall planning a transformation?"
Lin Sanqi didn't answer, but looked at the many varieties of grain seeds in front of him and sighed sincerely:
"Alas, only 70 kilograms per mu! Lianyi, can you imagine how desperate it must be for farmers to take care of their crops like children, working hard for half a year, and only to harvest 70 kilograms of corn per mu?"
In the business hall, a middle-aged man wearing glasses who was directing the work was stunned when he heard Lin Sanqi's sigh and asked casually:
"Boss, are you saying that one mu of land can only yield 70 kilograms of corn? How is that possible? How can the yield be so low? Even if you just sow a handful of seeds, the harvest will be more than 70 kilograms."
Lin Sanqi smiled bitterly and said, "It's 70 kilograms. I saw it with my own eyes. That's why farmers really have it hard."
The middle-aged man was a little surprised:
"I've only heard of such low yields during those three years of natural disasters in history. I've never heard of such low yields anywhere now. Even in Wuwei, Gansu, where water is most scarce, the average corn yield per mu exceeds 500 kilograms."
Lin Sanqi thought, I'm talking about the three years of natural disasters.
Suddenly, Lin Sanqi's eyes lit up and he asked anxiously:
"Excuse me, you just said that the corn yield per mu in the most water-scarce areas of Gansu Province is at least 500 kilograms?"
Lin Sanqi knew that Gansu Province was famous for its water shortage. Even the mountains around the provincial capital Lanzhou were bare and had little vegetation.
Lin Sanqi had also seen the movie "Hidden in the Smoke" that made people shed countless tears. The farmers in the countryside there had too little rainfall and their lives were so hard.
In areas like Wuwei, taking a bath only a few times in one's lifetime is definitely not a legend. The residents here use water repeatedly in their daily lives.
There is also a joke on the Internet that tells the story of a father from a rural area in Gansu who went to visit his son who was working in Zhejiang Province, but he couldn't find the old man in the middle of the night.
It was not until dawn the next day that the son found his father by the river.
At that time, my father pointed at the river in front of him and said with heartache: "So much water is flowing away in vain, what a pity."
It can be seen that water has become an obsession in the hearts of the people of Gansu. The crops grown in such a place must be drought-resistant varieties.
Lin Sanqi thought to himself that he was looking for the other party this time. In 1960, there was no snow or rain in the north, and there was a large-scale and long-term drought, which made it difficult for crops to survive.
"Excuse me, are you…"
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "I'm Ye Guoyong, the vice president of Harvest Seed Company."
"Hello, Mr. Ye. My name is Lin Sanqi. I came here to buy some drought-resistant seeds. You're obviously an expert. Do you have any recommendations? To be honest, I'm not buying seeds for my own use. I'm being asked to do so to help farmers find a way out."
Only then did Ye Guoyong become serious.
He believed Lin Sanqi's words, because from Lin Sanqi's words and deeds, as well as the beauty of the female secretary beside him, it was clear that the young man in front of him was definitely not an ordinary farmer or a village cadre.
It is obviously impossible for a young man like this to buy grain seeds to take them back and farm them himself, so the most likely thing he is doing is to help others.
Scientific researchers engaged in agricultural work can best understand the hardships of farmers. Ye Guoyong immediately resonated with them and had great respect for Lin Sanqi.
"Boss Lin, right? Recommending seeds isn't a problem, but you have to tell me which region you want to plant in. Because each region's soil quality, climate temperature, water quality, etc. will affect the final yield, so we have to choose different seeds according to the region."
Lin Sanqi wondered why there were so many details to pay attention to when farming. Isn't it just throwing seeds into the soil? It seems that different trades are like different worlds.
But he didn't explicitly say that he wanted to travel back to 1960, so it seems we can only laugh it off.
"Mr. Ye, the area I'm planning to take you to is exactly the same as our capital, Changping. Please help me select a seed based on Changping's environment. The requirements are that it should be drought-resistant, especially in very arid areas, and the yield should be as high as possible."
"Changping?"
Ye Guoyong thought about it,
"In terms of yield, corn is definitely higher than wheat. For example, Longgao L2 is a corn variety bred in the high-yield breeding room of the Corn Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. This variety has high yield, is not prone to lodging, and has good drought resistance.
But if we really talk about drought resistance, wheat is definitely more drought-resistant than corn. For example, Zhengmai 119 has a growing period of about 200 days, rectangular ears, long awns and white shells, good plumpness, low black embryo rate, and resistance to high temperatures in the later period.
So whether you want higher-yielding corn or more drought-tolerant wheat, there’s a trade-off.”
Lin Sanqi asked, "How big is the difference in yield between these two varieties?"
Ye Guoyong did some mental calculations and replied:
"Generally speaking, on the same Changping land and in the same drought conditions, the per-acre yield of Longgao 12 corn is about 800-1000 kilograms. In the Huanghuai region, the per-acre yield can reach over 1300 kilograms. Meanwhile, the per-acre yield of Zhengmai 119 is around 300-500 kilograms."
In terms of taste, wheat flour is definitely tastier, but people are about to starve to death, so they will definitely choose the one with higher yield. This choice is not difficult to make.
Lin Sanqi then asked a rather unprofessional, yet very important question:
"Mr. Ye, can you save this Longgao L2 corn for seed?"
Lin Sanqi thought that if the yield of Longgao L2 corn was really that high, then the corn grown on the farm of the Chinese Medicine Hospital could very likely be promoted as seeds.
If Longgao L2 corn had been popularized throughout the country by 1960, wouldn't national grain production have increased several times? How many more people would have been spared from starvation?
Lin Sanqi's idea is good, but unfortunately the reality is harsh.
Ye Guoyong laughed after hearing this:
"It seems that Boss Lin doesn't usually care about agriculture. Generally speaking, the grain seeds produced by our seed company, whether it's corn, wheat, or rice, are almost all hybridized, and some are genetically modified.
As a result, our research and development has a patent, so we are not allowed to save seeds. If we insist on saving seeds, the grain we grow in the second year will not reach the yield of the first year, and may not even reach one-third of the yield."
Yin Lianyi was surprised to hear this and blurted out:
"Why? In ancient times, seed breeding consisted of selecting grain from the first year's harvest. This was done generation after generation. Why doesn't it work now?"
Ye Guoyong patiently answered the beauty's curiosity:
"You're talking about ordinary seeds, which can be cultivated generation after generation. But hybrid varieties are different. These seeds have been sterilized from the beginning, so they can't be used as grain. If they could be used as grain, our seed company would have lost a lot of money long ago."
Lin Sanqi was greatly disappointed when he heard this.
From a businessman's perspective, there is nothing wrong with doing this.
Seed research and development has costs, and companies invest huge amounts, so of course they want to maximize profits. Therefore, they sterilize seeds, forcing farmers to buy seeds every year, so that they can make money year after year.
But from Lin Sanqi's perspective, this method cannot be promoted nationwide, nor can it alleviate the famine. At most, it can only solve the food crisis in the Chinese medicine hospital farm.
Ye Guoyong didn't know what Lin Sanqi was thinking and continued to introduce:
"Longgao L2 corn seeds, for example, are already our third-generation technology. We've invested over 100 million yuan in research and development for this product alone. We have to make money, otherwise we won't be able to carry out future projects..."
Suddenly, a "ding" sound rang in Lin Sanqi's head, and he found inspiration.
"Mr. Ye, you're saying that this Longgao L2 corn is a third-generation product. Can I understand that you still have the technical reserves of the first and second generations?"
Ye Guoyong didn't know what Lin Sanqi was thinking, so he nodded casually and said:
"Yes, technology is constantly advancing, and we have to adapt to the market and launch new products generation after generation."
Lin Sanqi suppressed his joy and continued to ask:
"Then your first-generation technology must be very backward, right? How many kilograms can it produce per mu?"
Ye Guoyong blurted out: "The first generation of products is 20 years old technology, and the yield per mu is about 500 kilograms."
Lin Sanqi suddenly asked anxiously, "Mr. Ye, are you selling this first-generation corn seed technology?" (End of this chapter)
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