East of Jingshi, Tongzhou, Shayuan.

It is hard to imagine that there would be such a large area of sand by the Weishui River in the bustling Guanzhong Plain. People who don't know think that they have come to the land of Mobei.

The yellow sand is long, the sand dunes are undulating, and the cattle and horses are everywhere.

"The 1,000 acres of land that were pulled out of us are almost all saline-alkali land, this is barren land, how can we grow corn?" Deputy Supervisor Li Yuanfang pointed to the large undulating sandy land in front of him, frowned and said to Li Xiao.

"Saline-alkali land is good, Yuanfang, let me tell you, corn is not as good as wheat and rice, in fact, it can also be grown in saline-alkali land, although the yield will definitely be low, but it can still grow." Li Xiao said with a smile.

"Can corn grow in saline soil?" Li Yuanfang was shocked. Saline-alkali land, simply put, means that the soil contains more salt, which in turn affects the growth of crops.

For example, the place of Shayuan has a special geographical form, it is said that Shayuan was a vast ocean of white water in the sea a long time ago, and it is said that it is known as the water country.

When the world of Yao Shun, the sand garden is in the flood, the end of the south of Tongguan is south, the middle strip is in the north, the two mountains are connected, the water has no way out, the pass is closed, here is a large basin, the rapids of Huang, Luo, Wei and Jing carry the sand down, precipitate here. When Dayu controls the water, Fang opens a gap by Tong Guan, and leads the water down, and the reason why this sand garden is generated.

The sand garden was originally in the flood, and then the water came out of the sand.

The Guanzhong region is relatively arid, with low precipitation and high evaporation, and the large amount of sand at the bottom of the ancient lake is more likely to accumulate salt on the soil surface.

Saline-alkali land is also divided into light saline land, medium saline land, and heavy saline land. Some plants can still grow in light salt land, and only a few weeds can grow in medium salt land, while heavy salt land is a real hair. However, whether it is light salt, medium salt, or heavy salt land, saline-alkali land has always been unsuitable for the growth of corn and rice, and there will be no harvest at all when crops are planted in such places.

"Actually, I specially requested this land." Li Xiaoyu is not shocking, and he is endless.

"We are now trying to plant corn, and we are trying to test the various properties of corn. If we can grow corn on this saline land and have a harvest, then it will be of great significance. ”

"Can corn really be grown in saline soil? Catchy? Li Yuanfang looked at the sandy land in front of him, this 1,000 acres of newly carved land, it was not flat, the sand dunes were undulating, some places had some small water pools, and some places looked white, and not a single grass grew in those places.

"The ability of corn to resist salinity is not weak, and we can properly transform these saline-alkali land, then we can still harvest everything, even if the yield is not high, but we can grow corn on saline-alkali land, isn't this an unexpected harvest?"

There are many saline-alkali lands in Datang, especially in the Guanzhong area, especially in the northwest of Guanzhong, where crops cannot be grown in these places in the past, and if corn can be grown and harvested in these places, it is indeed of far-reaching significance.

There are also areas such as the eastern coastal area, where there is also a lot of saline-alkali land.

"How do you transform the saline-alkali land?" Li Yuanfang was excited.

"In fact, it is not difficult, first of all, it is necessary to level this sandy land, and the more flat the land, the more it can improve the effect of rainfall and irrigation salt, and prevent soil patchy salinization."

Li Yuanfang thought about it, it was not difficult, and it was not a problem to level this sandy land.

"What else?"

"The second is to do a good job in irrigation and drainage channels, and insist on irrigation and salt washing, which is the fundamental way to improve saline-alkali land and reduce soil salinity. Then we have to continue to increase fertilizer, there is a horse grazing supervisor here in Shayuan, there is no shortage of horse manure, but there is no need to worry about fertilizer. Livestock manure can improve the soil structure, inhibit the rise of water and salt, long-term use of fertilizer, with water washing, and even can change light salt land into fertile land. ”

"Then there is the need for deep ploughing, especially after autumn, deep ploughing of the land, and no raking after ploughing, forming a rough and loose covering layer, which can not only reduce water evaporation, inhibit soil salt reaction, but also turn the salt gathered in the topsoil into the deep layer, turn the subsoil with less salt on the surface, and after sun exposure, can promote the growth of corn."

Li Yuanfang knows that washing saline-alkali land with water, but the effect of this method is not good for a single use, and it may have to be lavented for a long time, and the cost is very high.

However, Li Xiao is not just talking about simple washing, but also supporting methods such as leveling the land and deep ploughing.

"The key is to plant corn, which is highly resistant to salt and easier to survive, and it is much worse to plant others." Li Xiao's words made Li Yuanfang's excitement decrease a lot.

"To plant corn, it is necessary to sow it late, and to increase the sowing amount, about ten years later than ordinary fields, so that the seeds can germinate quickly at higher temperatures and shorten the salt damage time. The biggest problem of saline-alkali land is that it is difficult to emerge seedlings, and it is difficult to germinate, so we should increase the amount of sowing at least about three percent, in addition, it is best to soak the seeds first to promote germination and then sow seeds, and when sowing, we must use the deep ditch and shallow cover method to sow seeds, first open a half-foot ditch, turn the salty topsoil to both sides, and then sow the seeds into the ditch, and then cover two inches of soil, so that the water in the ditch can focus on the back of the ridge and reduce the salt damage. ”

"There is a secret, diligent cultivation, not anti-alkali. Deep cultivation, the ground is not boarded, and the cultivation can prevent salt after rain. ”

Li Yuanfang turned his head to several corn prison officials and said, "Have you remembered what the prison supervisor said just now?" Take a note immediately, write down the details, and don't miss a word. ”

Li Xiao smiled, "Don't remember, I have written all of these in the corn scripture, which is more detailed, I will take it to you to copy it and study it carefully." ”

Today, Li Xiao came to Shayuan to test this land.

The imperial court allocated 1,000 acres of land for corn supervision in Shayuan as an experimental field, but now the seeds are limited, so Li Xiao only plans to plant a test field first.

According to the planting method of other fields, only 315 corn plants were planted in one field to test whether corn could survive in a sandy land like Shayuan, and Li Xiao also made it more difficult to plant corn on saline-alkali land.

"Pick a piece of lightly salty land, measure out a cent of land to plant corn, and the remaining 900 acres or so must now start leveling the fields, digging irrigation canals and ditches, and starting to wash the land and plough deeply. This fall, we're going to have more corn on this. ”

"San Lang, if this piece of land can really be harvested in summer, even if it is only five buckets per acre, it will be terrible. Corn is planted in the saline-alkali land, and how much grain will Guanzhong have to increase in income in the future. As long as three catties of seeds per mu, even if you harvest five buckets of corn, it is very cost-effective. ”

Guanzhong lacks land, Guanzhong is the imperial capital, there is only a small piece of Guanzhong Plain, there are many people and little land, the imperial court has to send a large amount of grain from Guandong every year into the customs, and every grain of Guandong grain is transported over, it costs a lot. One stone of grain was transported from the southeast to Chang'an, and the cost of this journey was actually as much as three or four stones.

There is little rain and more drought in Guanzhong, and there are many water slopes and saline-alkali land, if Li Xiao's corn can really be planted and harvested even on saline-alkali land, then I really don't know how great it is.

"Believe me, today we are under this kind of corn, and in a hundred days, we will see the harvest. Moreover, there is definitely more than half a stone per acre. ”

You must know that in later generations, the saline-alkali land that was transformed by scientific methods had a corn production capacity of more than 600 kilograms per mu. Even if you don't have that technology now, it is not a problem to grow corn in light salt land and yield a hundred catties per mu.