Chapter 285
The main function of the Agricultural Science Station is to directly serve farmers. It is responsible for promoting new technologies and new products in a place, guiding farmers' production, and serving to increase farmers' income, develop agricultural production, and revitalize the rural economy. At present, the agronomists at the Agricultural Science Station are still very qualified.
Because Sujia Village is a village under the jurisdiction of Ning County, the agricultural science station responsible for them is located in Ning County. The next day, the three of them had breakfast and went out at eight o'clock.
Xiao Su, the agronomist introduced by Su Yuanzheng's acquaintance, came out to welcome them into the office. Xiao Su was not tall and a little thin, but he was very energetic. He was usually very warm to the visiting farmers. Many farmers in the subordinate towns knew him and had a high opinion of him. Because he was the leader of the agricultural support team in the department, farmers generally called him Team Leader Su.
After asking a few people to sit down, he asked with great interest, "I heard from Section Chief Wei that you want to grow papayas in large quantities? Do you already have a stable sales channel?"
Since we are here and need help from others, we must explain things clearly. Su Miao said, "We have a papaya pickle workshop at home, and we need papaya supply all year round. Now we mainly rely on farmers to buy it, because farmers are not specialized in growing papaya, so the supply is not very stable.
For the long term, we want to grow some crops ourselves and then buy the remaining crops from farmers. However, standardized planting is different from the scattered planting methods we used to have, and we don't know much about planting techniques, so we wanted to ask you for advice."
Team leader Su did not look down on Su Miao just because she looked young. He had met many young but thoughtful classmates in college. What they had in common was that they were quick to accept new things, had bold and novel ideas, and were the emerging force that this era urgently needed.
Seeing that they really had no experience, Team Leader Su told them in detail about the current situation of papaya cultivation.
"Actually, papayas are divided into wild papayas and papayas. In the south, we mostly grow papayas, but there are also a small number of wild papayas. The papayas you use to make papaya pickles should be papayas, right?"
Su Miao nodded: "Yes, it uses papaya, and it is made with unripe green papaya."
Team Leader Su's excitement was palpable. He said, "This papaya can be eaten raw or cooked, sliced and dried. It's nutritious, and the fruit can even be used as medicine. It's actually a very good crop, but the initial cultivation process is quite long. Do you have the budget to invest in it for such a long time?"
"We have an idea: if it is feasible to transplant mature trees, what is the success rate of transplantation, and whether we can shorten the initial planting time."
Team Leader Su thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Mature trees can indeed be transplanted directly, but it's not as simple as just digging up and moving them to a new location. If we want to maintain a high transplant success rate, we have to select the trees in advance, root them up beforehand, and then transplant them to the new location. From rooting to transportation, replanting, and subsequent maintenance, all the steps are very important. If something goes wrong, all the efforts will be wasted."
After hearing this, the second uncle said disappointedly, "Then what we thought before is no longer feasible. We have to plant a new one. The papaya tree in front of our house was planted ten years ago. I remember it took more than two years to eat it."
Just when they thought the plan might be scrapped, Team Leader Su said with a smile, "Brother, it's difficult to transplant mature trees. There are other ways to grow them. The previous planting methods were more traditional, but now they're more scientific and grow faster. Plus, there are new varieties of papayas now that are different from the old ones and can be harvested earlier."
Su Miao's eyes lit up, and he said, "Team Leader Su, can you tell us about planting new varieties?"
"Wait a moment, please."
Team leader Su stood up and walked to the file cabinet, opened the cabinet door with the key, rummaged for a while, and took out a document.
He handed the materials to Su Miao and said, "You can take a look at this. There's a papaya variety called Sui Zhong Hong, which was bred by the Yangcheng Fruit Science Research Institute in 1972. It's characterized by early maturity, high yield, and high quality. It matures more than 30 days earlier than the Lingnan variety, and its flowering is more stable. It was promoted and cultivated in Yangcheng a few years ago, and the results are quite good. Specific data are provided above."
Su Miao held the information in his hand, and his father and second uncle came forward to look at it together. Sui Zhong Hong was a hybrid made with Lingnan No. 6 as the female parent and the Zhongshan variety with strong fruiting ability as the male parent, and the result was "Sui Zhong". Then, "Sui Zhong" was used as the female parent and "Thailand Red Meat" as the male parent for hybridization to produce "Sui Zhong Hong".
The information was very detailed and complicated, making it a little dizzying for these outsiders. Su Miao tried his best to extract the key points from it.
According to existing planting experience, this variety has a short vegetative growth period, with annual plants reaching 1.3 to 1.5 meters in height. It blooms early and sets fruit early. The time required from flowering to fruit ripening varies depending on the flowering period. When flowering in summer, the fruit ripening period only takes 4-5 months, while flowering in winter requires half a year. By controlling the flowering period and pollination, the purpose of picking can be achieved throughout the year.
The flowering characteristics are relatively stable, with high and stable yields. The average weight of a single fruit is about 1.2 kg. The fruit has a beautiful shape, moderate hardness, and a sweet and fragrant taste.
Wow! This is Su Miao's dream girl!
Uncle Er also pointed to the section above and said, "It's already starting to set fruit at 50 centimeters? That's amazing! It can bear fruit without waiting for it to grow tall!"
"Team Leader Su, this variety is great! Is it suitable for growing here?"
"It's suitable. Many farmers in Qiong Province and Yangcheng are planting it now. The climate in Yongcheng is similar. If you like this variety, I can help you contact them to get seedlings and ask their technicians for a more detailed planting report. If it works out, we can start promoting the planting of this variety here in the future."
Su Miao was really excited, but starting a plantation business from scratch required careful and cautious approach. She said, "Team Leader Su, this variety looks great, but this is our first time. I'd like to look at the information in more detail, so it might take a while. I hope you don't mind."
"It's okay. Take your time and look at it. We shouldn't be so cautious. We don't have this variety grown here yet. Even if I were to grow it, I'd have to do some research."
So Su Miao read the information carefully from beginning to end. In her memory, this variety of papaya was indeed promoted extensively from the late 1980s to the 1990s. At that time, most of the papayas bought on the market in Nanning City were of this variety, and the quality was indeed good.
An hour later, she breathed a sigh of relief, put down the materials in her hand, and cast an inquiring look at her father and second uncle.
Su Yuanzheng said: "Miaomiao, just make the decision."
Second Uncle also nodded: "Yes! You make the decision. If you say to plant, Second Uncle will plant!"
Su Miao was deeply touched by the elders' trust in him. He turned to Team Leader Su, who was curiously observing their interactions, and said, "Team Leader Su, we plan to plant this variety of papaya. I'd like to ask for your guidance."
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