Chapter 15 Agronomy
"Da da da!" Footsteps were heard from behind, and Su Bucheng and others turned around.
"Aying! What are you doing here?" Su Bucheng saw his daughter chasing him with a big backpack on her back.
"I want to go to the village chief and ask where I can find ready-made lime or limestone." Su Ying smiled.
"Give it to me, I'll go." Su Bucheng went to take his daughter's big backpack.
"No need! Aye, my elder brother and I will go." Su Ying didn't give him any. "Aye has more important things to do. We can just do this little thing."
Su Bucheng, who has worked as a grassroots official for many years, has experience in choosing the land and has considered it comprehensively. Time waits for no one, so it must be implemented as soon as possible.
Finding lime is not the most important thing. If you really can't find it, you can only turn over and dry the rotten soil, wait for the wheat seedlings to grow, and then use wood ash as topdressing.
With nothing to lose, this is the only option.
"Okay, Boyan, you go with your sister." Su Bucheng did not insist.
On the way to the village, the land along the stream has almost been cultivated for easy watering, and the remaining land is a little further away from the stream.
The land is barren, but it has been cultivated for more than ten years, and has been cultivated and fertilized, so it looks better than wasteland.
"It's not okay to farm like this!" Su Ying looked all the way and shook her head. A lot of the land was hardened.
"It seems that this wasteland..." Su Laosan felt disappointed.
Without oxen or plows, we have to rely on hoes to dig. The compacted soil is difficult to dig and cannot be dug deep. The roots of wheat cannot be firmly established, so how can it grow?
"Father, we can't plant the land like this. It will become more and more compacted!" A group of people squatted on the ground to discuss, and Su Ying picked up a piece of dirt and said.
"Oh, Aying, do you know why it is hardened?" Su Bucheng has been working at the grassroots level for many years and has been troubled by this problem.
In several counties where I have served, the land has been cultivated for a long time and this has happened to me. Everyone knows that it is because the land has been cultivated for a long time, but they can't think of a solution.
"Long-term and large-scale application of wood ash will easily cause the soil to become compacted. The soil is already poor, so crop rotation is necessary so that the land can be cultivated and grown at the same time.
"You can't keep planting a single crop. The nutrients in the soil won't be stored, and the land will only become increasingly barren." Su Ying gave the answer.
In ancient times, there were few types of fertilizers, and the most commonly used ones were manure, wood ash, and green manure.
Wood ash mainly contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc. It is an alkaline fertilizer that can neutralize the acidity and alkalinity of the soil, increase soil permeability and water retention, improve soil structure, promote plant root development, and kill bacteria and prevent insects.
However, excessive use of wood ash will cause the soil to become too alkaline, which will not only affect the plant roots' ability to absorb nutrients, but will also dissolve some heavy metals.
Heavy metals enter the bodies of soil microorganisms and have a toxic effect on them, slowing down their growth and leading to an imbalance in the soil ecosystem.
At the same time, the alkaline nature of wood ash will accelerate the decomposition of humus in the soil, reduce the humus content, make the soil structure compact, reduce air permeability, and cause the soil to become compacted.
"Oh, that's it!" Su Bucheng suddenly realized.
He didn't understand what his daughter said about acid, alkali, microorganisms, etc., but he understood the meaning. The long-term excessive use of wood ash destroyed the balance of substances in the soil, and the humus in the soil decreased, so it became compacted.
No wonder my daughter said yesterday that she wanted to dig up the rotten soil from the woods to fill the land. I guess it was to increase the looseness, permeability and fertility of the soil.
"Aying, then we can't use wood ash in the future? But that's the experience left by our ancestors. We have been farming like this for thousands of years." Su Laosan asked.
"Of course wood ash can be used, but there are some things to note. When mixing wood ash with manure, you need to pay attention to the mixing ratio.
Mix two pounds of wood ash with forty pounds of water and then add fifty pounds of liquid manure. This fertilizer mixture is ideal.
Wood ash and manure can be used together, but they cannot be mixed for composting or fermentation," Su Ying emphasized.
Wood ash is an alkaline organic potassium fertilizer, and human, livestock and poultry manure is an organic acid fertilizer. Mixing them for fermentation or composting will cause the nitrogen fertilizer and potassium fertilizer in them to be lost.
"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! The girl actually knows so much!" The voice of the village chief came from behind.
"Village chief!" Su Bucheng stood up and greeted him.
They were so engrossed in the conversation that they didn't notice that there was a large group of people standing behind them, staring at them eagerly.
After breakfast, the villagers went to the fields to plow the soil in preparation for sowing winter wheat, but they didn't expect to listen to a wonderful agronomy class.
He was a prominent official in the past and never paid attention to agriculture. When he was exiled here, he had only a vague understanding of farming and had to start from scratch, relying entirely on trial and error.
They worked hard all year round, but the harvest was low and after paying taxes there was little left, so life was difficult.
At this moment, someone spoke very clearly and solved many of their mysteries.
"My dear!" the village chief replied, looking at Su Ying eagerly. "May I ask if there is any way to improve this land?"
"Uh..." Su Ying hesitated.
"Just tell us, lady. We will consider whether it is feasible or not. You don't need to worry too much." The village chief dispelled Su Ying's concerns.
"Aying, just tell me as much as you know, it's okay to say it!" Su Bucheng encouraged.
"Okay, let me tell you, if we want to improve the soil, we need to start from several aspects." Su Ying organized her thoughts.
"First, deep plowing is the most basic and most commonly used method.
Second, apply farmyard manure, compost, green manure, biological fertilizer, etc. to improve the soil's ability to retain water and fertilizer, and provide the nutrients needed by the soil.
Third, beans are rotated with rice and wheat, usually after the crops are harvested or during the fallow period.
Fourth, irrigate properly to maintain the appropriate soil moisture and avoid excessive dryness or wetness.
"Well, what the lady said about crop rotation is a good idea!" Several people in the crowd who were about the same age as the village chief nodded frequently.
"Excuse me, lady, why do we need to rotate crops with beans?" someone asked humbly.
"During the growth process, beans can improve the organic matter content of the soil, improve the soil's aggregate structure, increase the soil's ability to retain water and fertilizer, and provide the soil with the nutrients it needs, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium." Su Ying explained.
"Oh? Girl, what are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium nutrients?" Everyone found these words very new to them.
"It's hard to explain at the moment, but anyway, those are the nutrients needed for crop growth, and they can make the soil loose and not compacted." Su Ying said vaguely.
Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium cannot be seen or touched at the moment, so she cannot provide any evidence.
"Old Yang, what do you think we should do next? Do you want to give it a try? Leave some land to grow soybeans?" Everyone was very excited after hearing this.
"You make your own decision. We only have so much land. If you plant soybeans, you'll have to plant less wheat. You have to pay taxes and make a living. Do the math and then decide."
The village chief will not take on too much.
"I'd better give two acres of land a try. Soybeans are also food anyway, and we can survive by eating them together." Someone made up his mind after thinking silently.
So they gathered in groups of three or four to discuss the matter.
"Sir, which piece of land do you like?" the village chief was very enthusiastic.
"Not yet. I was so engrossed in the conversation just now that I didn't have time to look for it carefully. Does the village chief have any good suggestions?" Su Bucheng asked.
Having been here for nearly twenty years, I am naturally familiar with the environment here. It is faster to get there with someone to guide me than to run around looking for it myself.
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