Fallow refers to the period of time in which crops are not planted on a piece of land in order to restore its fertility. The fertility of the land refers to the chemical elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the land, as well as the humus content in the soil, which is the guarantee of high crop yields. If a piece of land is cultivated continuously for a long time, these chemical elements and humus cannot be replenished, which will lead to reduced crop yields. In order to achieve high yields on land with insufficient soil fertility, people have to use a large number of chemical fertilizers to supplement these natural substances, which eventually leads to bad phenomena such as land compaction, which is called the degradation of cultivated land.

In the United States, in order to maintain the fertility of the land and ensure the sustainable development of agriculture, the government has introduced a series of measures including fallow, crop rotation, and no-tillage. One of them, which began in 1986, was a fallow scheme in which farmers voluntarily and subsidised a portion of land for 10 to 15 years with government subsidies to restore the land to its original state before farming. In addition to this government-led fallow scheme, many farmers themselves fallow a portion of their land from time to time to avoid consuming too much land power.

In contrast, China, due to its large population and lack of land, simply cannot allow arable land to be abandoned. When climatic conditions permit, people tend to adopt a two-season or even three-season farming system a year, so that the land is constantly in a state of overdraft. In order to restore soil fertility, people sometimes plant a season of green manure crops such as safflower grass and alfalfa in winter to add some organic fertilizer to the overburdened land.

The United States was able to leave a large amount of land fallow in large part because of the abundance of land, and if all the land was taken out for farming, the market would simply not be able to absorb that much production. Now, when Lin Zhenhua asked whether he could buy 20 million tons of wheat from the United States, Slittle's first thought was to make use of the land that was in a state of fallow.

Hearing Slittle's suggestion, Radka also reacted. There is also a large amount of land on his farm that is being fallowed. Fallow this kind of thing, the time can be long or short, it is really not good, put in more fertilizer, and worry about the wheat can not grow?

"Slittle, you're right, if there really is such a big order. I think agricultural associations could lobby the government to relax some of the fallow requirements. We could have reduced the biennial fallow to triennial, and it wouldn't have caused much damage to the land. Radkar said.

"But, Lin, are you sure that China needs to import 20 million tons of American wheat?" Ford wasn't as optimistic as the two farmers. He still remembers Huang Gang saying that China's wheat is self-sufficient enough, and according to Ford's experience, as long as the Chinese can produce something, they will never import it. Chinese regard foreign exchange as more valuable than their daughter-in-law, how can they use it indiscriminately?

Lin Zhenhua pointed to Huang Gang and said to Ford: "I'm afraid this question is only available to their government officials." You know, I'm an industrialist, and I don't need so much wheat. ”

Huang Gang listened to Lin Zhenhua's words. A little angry, he glanced at Lin Zhenhua and said, "Mr. Lin, should we go out and talk about this matter?" ”

"Uh...... All right. Lin Zhenhua stood up, said hello to Ford and the others, and walked out of the conference room, Huang Gang followed closely behind him and also came to the outside of the conference room.

"What's wrong. Huang Gang. Do you think I'm not right? Lin Zhenhua asked.

Huang Gang complained: "Brother Lin, you can't just pat your head and make an idea, right?" Let's talk to Ford today. It is to convince them to become the spokesperson of China, and the task is clear. However, we can't just make promises just to win them over, right? The import of 20 million tons of wheat you mentioned is not reliable at all. ..., Lin Zhenhua retorted: "Why is it unreliable? Didn't you listen to Radkar, 20 million tons of wheat, that is, more than 3 billion US dollars, we can import hundreds of billions of dollars a year, this is more than 3 billion, you are also distressed? ”

Huang Gang said: "The money that should be spent, no matter how you spend it, you don't feel distressed, and you can't spend any money that shouldn't be spent." Brother Lin, you are also a businessman, you should know how difficult it is for our country to earn some foreign exchange. Look at what you said, 'more than 300 million', if your words are heard by our director, I'm afraid we will scold you for being a loser. ”

"Is it hard to earn foreign exchange?" Lin Zhenhua said, "Xiao Huang, is your mind still stuck in 10 years ago?" Yes, it used to be very difficult for us to earn some foreign exchange, but the situation has been completely different in recent years. Just our chemical equipment alliance can earn back tens of billions of dollars of foreign exchange for the country in a year, and our country's foreign trade is already a large surplus, how can you still think it is difficult to earn foreign exchange? ”

Huang Gang said: "That's right, the situation of foreign exchange receipts and expenditures in the past two years has been better than in the past, and foreign exchange reserves have risen to nearly 200 billion. But we have to be prepared for danger in times of peace, what if there is a major change in the foreign trade situation, or if there is a situation like the Asian financial crisis in '97? The $200 billion foreign exchange reserve is not too little, but it is not a lot to say that it is too much, and we still have to use it sparingly. ”

This is the panic mentality of the poor when they first become rich. You must know that only six or seven years ago, China was a country with a serious shortage of foreign exchange, and at that time, China's foreign exchange reserves were only about $20 billion, which was far lower than the amount of foreign investment in China and the amount of foreign debt the country was burdened with. If at that time there was a situation like the Soviet Union's forced debt in the early 60s, China would have faced a very difficult situation.

During the Asian financial crisis in 97, the financial predator Soros did not fail to fight China's idea, thanks to China's sufficient foreign exchange reserves, Soros retreated. It can also be seen from this that an adequate foreign exchange reserve is very important to ensure the country's financial security.

In the past few years, the state has been cutting back on food and clothing, constantly expanding exports, and saving imports as much as possible, and finally increased its foreign exchange reserves to the level of $200 billion.

The only person who can be so optimistic about the prospects of foreign exchange earnings is a person like Lin Zhenhua who has a prescient vision. Lin Zhenhua knows that in the next 10 years, China's foreign exchange balance and expenditure situation will not deteriorate, but will get better and better, so that in the end, there will be no place for foreign exchange. To put it simply, by 2011, China was able to recoup nearly $100 billion in interest a year on its foreign bonds alone. If these interest were converted into wheat, it would be enough to feed the country's 1.3 billion people.

Now that you know that there will be so many dollars that you can't spend in the future, why not take them out and buy something of value now?

Lin Zhenhua persuaded: "Xiao Huang, your worry is completely unnecessary, you can also see that the export situation of Chinese goods is very good now, and it is almost impossible for foreign countries to completely boycott Chinese goods." In the case of a large increase in exports, if we do not consciously increase some imports, we will inevitably incur the dissatisfaction of other countries in the end, thus inducing a trade war. Instead of hating people with money that you don't need, you might as well use it to buy something we need. ”

"It's inevitable to expand imports from the United States, but we don't need to buy wheat, right? It's not something we can't produce. Huang Gang said.

Lin Zhenhua spread his hands and asked, "If you don't buy wheat, what are you going to buy, do you want to buy luxury goods from the United States?" Didn't you listen to them, the American Agricultural Association is a very influential interest group, and if we can tie up the American Agricultural Association with agricultural imports and let them speak for us on various occasions, it will also be of great help to the export of Chinese goods to the United States. With only 3 billion US dollars, we can earn back by exporting a few stamping lines. ..., Huang Gang said: "Brother Lin, you only considered the problem of import and export, but have you thought about another problem?" Our country's grain production is sufficient, and there is even a surplus every year. In this case, if a large amount of wheat is imported from the United States, what is the use of China's own land? ”

"Fallow!" Lin Zhenhua blurted out, "Isn't this simple? ”

"Fallow?" Huang Gang was stunned for a moment, "What kind of idea is this, we don't plant our own land, but waste a lot of foreign exchange to buy food abroad, how can there be such a reason?" ”

Lin Zhenhua looked at Huang Gang with eyes that hated iron and steel, and said: "Huang Gang, Huang Gang, I always thought you were an open-minded person, but I didn't expect that it was also such a small peasant consciousness." First of all, foreign exchange can neither be eaten nor drunk, it is enough to leave a little as a reserve, and the rest must be spent when it is earned, what is waste? ”

Huang Gang said: "Well, let's think what you said is reasonable. However, it is always a waste to leave our own land unplanted, right? ”

Lin Zhenhua said: "This question is complicated. In fact, land fallow is not a waste, but a kind of protection of land. The vast majority of our land in China is over-cultivated and has to rely on chemical fertilizers to maintain production. From a scientific point of view, these lands should be fallow every few years, and some of the land in poor conditions should even be fallow for a long time, which is necessary for sustainable development. ”

"This ......" Huang Gang nodded thoughtfully, "It does seem to make some sense when you say this." In recent years, the state has returned farmland to forests and grasslands out of the need to protect the ecological environment. However, the scale of returning farmland is far from sufficient, and this is mainly to ensure food supply. If we can import ...... from the United States Let's count 20 million tons of wheat, which is equivalent to the output of 50 million acres of high-quality arable land. According to what you said, these 50 million acres of land can be fallowed, which is indeed very valuable for the restoration of the ecological environment. ”