Chapter 304: Flying Cat; Red Fire Ant; Davis (Please vote for me!)
Red Fire Ant is very adaptable. After being invaded, few countries or regions can completely eliminate the Little Fire Ant.
Due to the lack of natural enemies, the tiny red fire ants are found throughout the southern United States.
They can be found on park lawns, grass on both sides of roads, vast farmland, and open spaces around village houses.
Farmers, construction workers, greening workers... these people, like hard-working ants, working in the wild day and night, are the most common victims of red fire ants.
Even among all the invasive plants and animals in the world, fire ants rank high.
It is easy to step on an ant to death, but it is difficult to step on a nest of ants.
There can be 200,000 to 400,000 fire ants in an ant nest. Once disturbed, they will run out in a swarm, which is completely the combat mode of a group army.
The fire ant’s home is in the Amazon rainforest of South America. It is a very common species in the rainforest, and there are dozens of natural enemies that can restrain it.
But who dares to introduce these natural enemies easily?
The harsh living environment of the Amazon has also allowed red imported fire ants to develop special abilities.
Faced with floods, thousands of fire ants will press their bodies tightly together to form a strong and dense "life raft".
After the "life raft" is formed, some of the fire ants will float on the water, supporting the entire colony and escorting the fire ants above to float across the water to safety.
Although the positions can be rotated, during the long drift, some fire ants will always be drowned due to lack of contact with air for a long time, dedicating themselves to the entire ant colony.
And they are so smart that they can cling to any branches and vines along the way and use them as life-saving straw during the long migration journey.
Flooding, fire, poisonous powder...
But fire ants can quickly crawl down underground passages, hide deeper, or escape directly from the underground passages to the outside.
The United States has tried many methods, but the fire ants have been unable to be controlled.
The little ants are also called: the invincible corps.
Guo Yang couldn’t help but feel his scalp numb after reading the American report on fire ants for a while.
Not only is agriculture damaged, fire ants will also build nests in street lights, power telecommunications, traffic signals and other facilities. The insect corpses often cause short circuits and even fires.
But if you want to cause trouble, you still have to start with agriculture.
This thing eats earthworms, which is harmful to the soil, and also threatens crops, so we still start from these two directions.
Guo Yang looked at the agricultural map of Laomei again.
Although the central and southern regions are large plains, they belong to dry zone agriculture, and the main crops are cotton, soybeans, corn, wheat, potatoes, etc.
The soil is inherently shallow.
After years of farming, the exposed soil has caused serious nutrient loss, and rocks have been exposed in some areas.
In order to protect cultivated land, the United States has also been promoting agricultural technologies such as shallow tillage, no-tillage, and straw mulching in these areas in recent years.
In this case, let the fire ants be more destructive to the soil and make their immunity to chemical pesticides stronger.
Guo Yang has a direction in his mind.
At the same time, it is inevitable to wonder whether the country has been invaded by this thing.
Thinking of this, Guo Yang couldn't sit still and immediately wanted to contact the country to ask, but who should he contact?
Guo Yang thought about it for a while and finally called Zhu Jie from the Jiangsu Province Rice Research Institute. Red imported fire ants can cause harm to rice fields.
It was already past 11 o'clock in China at this time. When Zhu Jie and his wife were sleeping in bed, a phone call woke them up.
"Who is this? You called me in the middle of the night."
Zhu Jie was also a little angry, but when he saw the incoming call, he put on another expression.
"It's the big boss of Jiahe Group. Don't talk for now. I'll answer it first."
Soon, Guo Yang's voice came in.
"Director Zhu, I have something to ask you. Have red fire ants been found in China?"
Zhu Jie thought for a while and said: "Yes, it seems that there were two years ago in Guangdong. Reported on fire ants ”
"But I heard it's under control."
"Under control?" After reading the information, Guo Yang didn't know whether to believe it or not.
"I haven't noticed much such reports recently. Let's do this. I'll go back to the office tomorrow to find someone to inquire."
Zhu Jie added: "When will Boss Guo come to Tiao Zini again?" Look, the sea rice is growing very well this year!”
“Okay, come when you have time”
Seeing Zhu Jie still looking unfinished, his wife asked curiously: "Who is it? You pay so much attention to it."
"A leader in domestic agriculture."
"Seawater rice They made the seeds.”
Chicago.
When Guo Yang knew that red fire ants also appeared in China, he knew that things were in trouble.
This little ant is a top invasive species, far more harmful than tilapia, Brazilian turtle, lucky bamboo, happy grass, water hyacinth, crayfish, etc.
If the newly cultivated fire ants flow into the country again, the gains will outweigh the losses.
There must be a way to deal with it.
Guo Yang soon thought of using natural enemies, local natural enemies, rather than natural enemies in the Amazon rainforest.
He immediately dialed Xu Xuenong's number again. Xu Xuenong answered the call immediately. He must have been awake yet.
Night owl!
But Xu Xuenong didn’t have much contact with red fire ants and only said he would check them out.
Early the next morning, Zhu Jie and Xu Xuenong sent the collected information one after another.
The earliest report of red imported fire ants in China was in 2004, when red imported fire ants injured people in Wuchuan, Guangdong.
But Xu Xuenong contacted entomology experts from South China Agricultural University and concluded that in the 1990s, red imported fire ants came across the sea to Pengcheng by ship.
Traces of red fire ants have been found in many provinces in China.
Some prevention and control methods have also been summarized in China.
In addition to chemical and physical elimination, the most effective natural enemy is the yellow dragonfly, which can prey on red imported fire ant queens after the spring rains.
The queen is eaten, and the nest of fire ants is destroyed.
However, the yellow dragonfly also eats the center. It eats a lot and moves quickly. The center cannot escape its prey. Many domestic beekeepers have suffered losses as a result.
Once too much is thrown, the center will suffer.
But there is also a way to trap and kill the queen of an ant colony with poison. Maybe Quanwang Biology can do research in this area.
Guo Yang gradually understood.
It will be easier to deal with it once you have a direction, not to mention that the newly cultivated red fire ants should not appear in the country so soon.
After having a Chinese breakfast at the hotel in the morning, Guo Yang and Luo Xiu rushed to Tianhe's breeding station under the leadership of Li Yang, an employee based in the United States.
We passed many large farms on the way, and the land on the great plains made people feel comfortable.
Spring wheat has been harvested, and summer corn is still growing vigorously.
Driving for more than two hours, we arrived at the Illinois River in the suburbs.
Tianhe's corn breeding station is here. The farm is not large, only a few dozen acres of land, but it is enough for breeding.
Today’s target was Asian carp, so Guo Yang didn’t stay at the farm much longer.
The Illinois River connects the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes and was one of the first areas to become overrun with Asian carp.
Today, the river is densely populated with cypriniform fish such as herring, grass carp, silver carp, and bighead carp.
Huge groups rob large amounts of food from the mouths of native fish, and native fish cannot survive. This is one of the important environmental issues that federal and local governments are concerned about.
Various methods have been developed to eliminate Asian carp, poisoning, installing electric grids, etc.
If you fish here, you can easily break the record.
But Guo Yang was not here to fish. The fishing procedures here were too troublesome. Fortunately, someone had already developed a way to shoot Asian carp with bows and arrows.
Evan Hodge, a local employee at the farm, has rented two larger boats in advance.
I have to say that the density of fish in the river is really high. As soon as the boat sailed out, frightened fish jumped out of the water.
But the fish at the bottom are the target.
Guo Yang got familiar with the bow and arrow, looked at the right moment, and shot an arrow, but unfortunately it missed.
Luo Xiu, who was on the same boat, harvested a large golden carp that was at least forty to fifty centimeters long.
Luo Xiu took the fish back and said: "The best of the best. In China, such a big wild carp is not common."
Guo Yang smiled and said: "Domestic The electrician is so good that small fish and shrimps are no longer common in the river without protection.”
After trying two or three times in a row, Guo Yang soon got results.
The density of fish is so high that you can catch a lot of fish even if you are blind.
And they are all very big, with any one weighing twenty or thirty pounds.
The power of the bow and arrow is not small. Basically, it can be shot through with one arrow. This primitive hunting method also makes Guo Yang very satisfied.
Luo Xiu said: "This feels much more exciting than fishing, but it's a pity that we can't play like this in China."
"Everyone has his own fun."
"But this is Built on the pain of others”
After a while, the two easily harvested dozens of fish, including silver carp, silver carp, bighead carp, herring, and grass carp.
Guo Yang is also observing the habits of these fish and thinking about how to get started.
Asian carp has an amazing fecundity and has no natural enemies. There is no obstacle in the existing watershed.
But in order to prevent Asian carp from swimming into other watersheds, the federal government has set up many power grid points on the river.
While this didn’t stop Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes, it did some good.
Guo Yang observed for a while. There is a saying in China that carp jumps over the dragon's gate, but in this river, silver carp, which is easily frightened, is better at jumping.
This kind of silver carp has amazing athletic ability. Not only can it jump over obstacles more than 3 meters high, it can even jump out of the water and fly 6 to 7 meters.
Sometimes if you don’t pay attention, you can easily get injured.
Guo Yang suddenly had an idea.
Since it wants to fly, let it fly more ferociously, and also make it reproduce faster.
Soon, Guo Yang obtained some fish roe from the Asian carp he caught, and then quietly released the cultivated fry into the river.
Maybe it is not as harmful as Tribulus terrestris, or it may have already caused ecological problems, so the natural energy consumed this time is not as high as last time.
So Guo Yang was not polite. In addition to silver carp, he also bred one for carp, silver carp and bighead carp.
[Variety]: Flying silver carp
[Characteristics]: Compared with ordinary silver carp, it has a fierce temperament, stronger appetite, larger body, jumps higher, flies farther, and hits It is very powerful and extremely unfriendly to small ships...
Carp and silver carp and bighead carp also have similar attributes. Although they will not affect the inland shipping of Laos and the United States, they increase the difficulty of regulation.
With the ability to fly and jump, if you want to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes and other rivers, the interception facilities must become higher and higher.
If it is intercepted, it will be difficult for inland waterway shipping not to be affected.
The Mississippi River covers nearly 40% of the land in the United States. Depending on this river, farmers can transport agricultural products such as corn, wheat and soybeans to New Orleans, and then export them by sea to all parts of the world.
This can also be considered as a strength for the four major grain merchants.
There are now 3532 points of natural energy left.
Guo Yang estimates that the existing energy for transforming two existing animals and plants, red fire ants and dodder, is only enough.
In one morning's work, Guo Yang not only achieved his goal, but also harvested a bucket full of Asian carp.
No one who can be shot is small.
Luo Xiu repeatedly praised, "This bucket is estimated to be at least 500 kilograms. How should we deal with this fish now?"
"Let Li Yang and Yiwen handle it later. We have to rush to the next place, but I guess it should be sold to a feed factory."
"Boss, you said there is profit in selling this carp back to the country. No? People in China are very good at eating silver carp.”
“It’s definitely profitable, but it’s a good thing. Do you think the river is clean?”
“I can’t tell. But it looks quite clear."
"Heavy metal pollution is very serious," Guo Yang said: "This river is near the main agricultural areas of the United States, and countless pesticides and fertilizers are used in the farmland. When it flows into the river, the water body has already become eutrophic.”
Now, Luo Xiu didn’t talk about eating Asian carp. Li Yang's boat also gained a lot, and Evan Hodge even whistled, obviously very satisfied with this event.
"Li Yang, I'll leave this fish to you. The boss and I will take a look. We're going to Texas tomorrow."
"Texas? The company is about to start Have cotton seeds been developed?”
“The boss wants to see the animal husbandry over there”
When he returned to the city, it was already past three in the afternoon, and Guo Yang made a special trip to the street where the Chicago Board of Trade was located.
The buildings on both sides are towering, but the streets are not wide. A Union Jack flag hangs under the tower clock on the building.
“Want to stop and take a look, boss?”
“No,” Guo Yang said.
“Speculation in agricultural products has become more and more intense, causing an imbalance between supply and demand. The prices of agricultural products have continued to rise, and farmers have made huge profits through exports.”
"Coupled with the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, it can be said that in the international agricultural product market, the United States has directed and acted an export drama."
Luo Xiu listened thoughtfully to the boss's soliloquy.
One day later, Houston, an international metropolis and the largest city in Texas.
After coming out of the airport, it was already afternoon, and we couldn’t go to the farm today.
Guo Yang said: "Is there a Rockets game tonight to see Yao Ming?"
"We finished the two days before the finals." Luo Xiu said helplessly: "The young emperor was swept by the Spurs."
"What a pity, I should have come over earlier to watch the game in San Antonio." Guo Yang was not without regrets. said.
Without him, I just want to hear with my own ears what Duncan said to James: The future is yours.
Without watching the game, Guo Yang and Luo Xiu went to see Huaxia City in Houston, but there seemed to be nothing unusual. They sat in the car and took a cursory look before returning to the hotel.
Texas has developed agriculture, with farms all over the place, mainly producing cotton, and its livestock industry is also the highest in the United States.
The development of beef cattle, pigs, sheep, and livestock has also driven the demand for pasture here, mainly alfalfa.
But alfalfa is mainly imported from California, Idaho, Nevada and other regions in the northwest.
Guo Yang also took this opportunity to inspect and learn about the agricultural practices of the United States. This may be his only opportunity.
He may never set foot on this land again.
The social service system of Lao American agriculture is indeed developed. You can do it yourself, or you can ask a service company to handle the entire process.
But what impressed Guo Yang was the rapid development of organic farms in the suburbs of big cities such as Houston.
Wander around the farm and pick strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries; in addition to picking, you can also buy home-produced eggs, honey, and vegetables.
Some farms also provide children with pony riding, tractor making, and small amusement parks, which are good places to take care of children.
After checking the information, I found that the area of organic agricultural products in Lao America has reached more than 24 million acres this year, and it is still growing rapidly.
The soil condition of these carefully managed farms is indeed much better, and even red fire ants are relatively rare.
But in more large farms, due to climate change, surface water has decreased, seawater has intruded, and the trend of salinization in the Great Plains in the central and southern regions is also serious.
In some severely damaged soybean fields, after uprooting the soybeans, they found that the roots were bare and there was nothing.
All the root nodules were eaten by fire ants.
Soybeans are nitrogen-fixing crops that rely on rhizobia to provide nutrients. Without rhizobia, the soybeans grown will be small in quantity and of poor quality.
Nitrogen fixation is even more out of the question.
After some plants bloom, fire ants will eat or drive away all the pollinating insects, resulting in a significant reduction in pollination rate.
Only after seeing this kind of destructiveness in person can we have a deeper understanding of the disasters it causes.
In a wasteland more than a hundred meters away from the road, there are hundreds of densely packed anthills, one nest at a time.
Under the sunlight in the wild, fire ants are bright brown-red, with two abdominal stalks connecting the thorax and abdomen.
Although the red imported fire ants are powerful in martial arts, their martial ethics are acceptable. They always do not offend others unless they offend me.
No, if Guo Yang stood aside and didn't provoke it, nothing would happen.
But as soon as the anthill was opened, thousands of fire ants rushed in like a tide, biting everything they encountered. It was very scary.
If you enlarge it and look at it, this is actually a smaller version of crayfish.
However, being bitten by a crayfish only causes physical pain, while being bitten by a red fire ant is not only painful, but can also lead to the development of poisonous sores and pus, which can even be fatal.
Fortunately, Guo Yang used the seed store to capture some powerful red fire ants.
When they arrived at a safe place, they immediately started nurturing them. After a while of tinkering, an enhanced version of the red fire ant appeared.
[Variety]: Red Fire Ant
[Characteristic 1]: Evolved from Red Fire Ant, it can cause devastating damage to soil microorganisms and is a natural enemy of all crops.
[Characteristic 2]: It has extremely strong vitality and is highly resistant to existing chemicals. Perhaps it can only be better killed through special plant ingredients.
[Natural Energy]: 1623 (Tendency to maliciously destroy the ecological environment).
The seemingly simple introduction made Guo Yang feel more at ease.
Firstly, after seeing the hazards at the scene, I know how terrifying this guy is;
Secondly, from the natural energy, we can infer the hazard intensity of Tribulus terrestris, which is slightly worse than that of red fire ants, but still A level.
Such power makes people look forward to it.
Having accomplished another goal, Guo Yang did not dare to stay any longer and wished he could return to China immediately.
But less than half a month later, he and Luo Xiu returned to California, which is also one of the main producing areas of alfalfa in the United States.
Guo Yang also followed to inspect the alfalfa farm.
Compared with alfalfa farming and animal husbandry, California’s alfalfa production methods are more modern and require less labor.
The industrial system is also more complete. In the production process of alfalfa seeds, honey, alfalfa juice drinks, and alfalfa sprouts have also been developed.
A lot of people bought it, and the output value should be good.
In the United States, being a farmer is a very good profession.
Originally, the supply of food in the world was relatively balanced, even exceeding supply. But the United States has strong control over agricultural product prices and the import and export of agricultural products.
The biggest inducement for the upcoming food crisis comes from the United States.
A large amount of surplus grain is used in the production of biofuels to combat rising oil prices.
The rising prices of agricultural products have hurt the poor and enriched the farmers.
The longer he stays here, the more Guo Yang can feel the vitality of the agricultural economy of Laos and the United States.
The food crisis is a tool used by the United States to pass on the subprime mortgage crisis.
Guo Yang has a feeling that the impact of the real estate bubble in California, Michigan, Florida and other places is expected to be offset by agricultural growth.
In comparison, Jiahe’s profit from this rise is only a small amount.
If you want to make a lot of money, you still have to lure this group of people to cause trouble in the country.
But Guo Yang kept his mission in mind, just to create obstacles for Lao American agriculture.
It’s just that the Laomei Alfalfa Farm did a good job in controlling dodder. He visited several farms but failed to collect suitable seeds.
On the first day, I had no choice but to return to the hotel where I stayed in Los Angeles.
After finishing some necessary domestic work, Guo Yang stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the night scene. The light in the city eclipsed the stars in the sky.
After being stunned for a while, the phone suddenly rang, and it was actually the instructor Weng Lixin.
"Guo Yang, have you been to North America?"
"Yes, you are in Los Angeles right now." Guo Yang asked: "Teacher, what can I do?"
"Just right, Professor Putnam from the University of California, Davis, found me through connections and hopes to invite you to the school in the name of academic exchange."
Weng Lixin said: "This is not a good thing on the school's part. Refuse, but it still depends on your wishes.”
Of course Guo Yang of Davis University knew that the national scholarship he originally received was to study at Davis University, and later it was given to Chen Yunpeng.
The University of Davis was originally an agricultural college and developed into a comprehensive university after being integrated into the University of California system.
Its majors in botany, herbology, and agricultural sciences rank among the top three in the world all year round.
Guo Yang said: "No problem, teacher, but academically, I might be a little worse."
"Are you a little worse?" Weng Lixin was still quarreling with others. He said without mercy: "I don't even want you to get a PhD degree."
"The main thing is that you are too busy."
Weng Lixin said: "It's okay. Professor Putnam mainly wants to share his breeding experience. This kind of thing requires persistence and luck. You just need to tell the truth."
Tell the truth? Can you say that? Guo Yang looked strange. Alfalfa No. 1 was cultivated through a seed store.
Weng Lixin continued: "The other party may also have ideas about Alfalfa 1, but since it is in the name of academic exchange, they should not force it."
"After all, no one knows , Can the Alfalfa 1 adapt to the geographical conditions of North America?"
"Okay, teacher"
"I will send you my contact information later, please stay safe out there."
......
The geographical environment of Davis City is very good. It is part of the Golden Zone of California, close to Los Angeles and San Francisco and Sacramento are relatively close.
The school environment is also in line with the style of an agricultural college.
The surrounding area is vast farmland, full of various experimental sites, and rich in natural resources.
A small city with beautiful scenery.
In about 1,000 acres of experimental fields at the Davis campus, Professor Putnam showed their scientific research results.
There are improved alfalfa varieties, various irrigation methods, harvesting equipment, forage storage and transportation.
Guo Yang praised: "Amazing results."
Professor Putnam is a friendly old white man with slightly longer white hair fluttering in the wind.
"We also have saline-alkali tolerant alfalfa varieties, but I heard from Barnes that Jiahe's alfalfa No. 1 is not only of high quality, but also has surprisingly good tolerance to saline-alkali soils."
Barnes ? Nitro’s Barnes? Guo Yang probably knew it well.
However, it seems that Barnes is more concerned about the quality of alfalfa, and may not have paid much attention to the effect of improving saline-alkali soil.
As for the data changes in saline-alkali soil, Jiahe has done a good job of keeping it secret. Even Su Guozhou, Dr. Zhou and others only know the data of the first two years.
“Yes, Alfalfa No. 1 is indeed an excellent variety.”
Guo Yang began to make up stories that were half true and half false.
“Alfalfa No. 1 has been bred for a long time. Around 1959, my teacher’s teacher began to breed alfalfa that could grow in saline-alkali soil to improve the soil and produce high-quality alfalfa hay. ”
“I have been keeping it for 30 years, both in the cold and in the summer.”
“In 1989, my teacher joined the team, and a few years later, I also joined the team.”
“Teachers have achieved a lot one after another. I just stood on the basis of my predecessors and relied on some luck to achieve the final results.”
Putnam said: "Your persistence and hard work are worth it. Alfalfa breeding is a long process."
Putnam seemed willing to believe such a traditional story. The scientific research team guarded the saline-alkali land. The alfalfa, year after year, finally bears fruit.
Guo Yang thought he understood the professor and continued to tell stories that had been told badly by his tutor.
“One autumn, there was a sudden heavy rain, and all our experiments were in vain. This happens every few years.”
“In addition to floods, there are also droughts. If it doesn’t rain in time after sowing in spring, the seedlings won’t grow, and that year will be in vain.”
"Pests and diseases are also a problem. One autumn, there was an outbreak of leaf moths, and our alfalfa experimental plot was eaten up in one night!"
Putnam said: "These are all normal, keep doing it again , keep doing it.”
“Yes, the breeding team later discovered that encountering disasters is not all bad. If you encounter waterlogging, you can select varieties that are more resistant to waterlogging; if you encounter drought, you can select varieties that are more resistant to drought. Varieties. ”
“This gave us a lot of thinking. Although the breeding of varieties will be aimed at enhancing a certain trait, various traits should be integrated as much as possible during the breeding process. The varieties must also be resistant to waterlogging, drought, diseases and pests, and have high yields.”
Putnam’s eyes showed appreciation and he smiled: “So, the varieties bred in this way are of comprehensive quality. The best.”
The two of them just exchanged their breeding experiences and had quite a common topic.
Finally, Putnam expressed his intention.
"Guo, with such excellent seeds, the Davis campus would like to introduce them from Jiahe. The two parties can carry out wider cooperation."
(End of this chapter)