To the east of the capital, Tongzhou, Shayuan.

It is hard to imagine that there will be such a large area of ​​sand on the side of the bustling Guanzhong Plain. People who are unaware of it think they have come to the land of the north of the desert.

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

"The thousand acres of land we have pulled were almost all saline-alkali land. This is a barren land. How can we grow corn?" Deputy Supervisor Li Yuanfang pointed to the large area of ​​undulating sand in front of him, frowned and said to Li Xiao.

"Salt-alkali land is good, Yuanfang, let me tell you that corn is not as good as wheat, rice and millet. In fact, it can grow in saline-alkali land. Although the yield will definitely be low, it can still grow." Li Xiao said with a smile.

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

For example, Shayuan has a special geographical shape. It is said that Shayuan was a vast ocean of white water a long time ago, and it is said that it is known as the Water Kingdom.

When Yao and Shun were in the flood, the sand garden was in the flood. It was located south of Tongguan and north of Zhongnan. The two mountains were connected, and the water had no way out. The gate was blocked. This was a large basin, with the rapids of Huang, Luo, Wei and Jing, which carried sand down and settled here. When Dayu controlled the flood, a gap was opened from Tongguan and guided water down. This was the reason why the sand garden was formed.

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

The Guanzhong area is relatively drought, with small precipitation and large evaporation. The large amount of sand layers at the bottom of Shayuan, an ancient lake, are more likely to gradually accumulate salt on the soil surface.

Salt-alkali land is also divided into light salt land, medium salt land, and heavy salt land. Light salt land can still grow some plants. Medium salt land is basically only a few weeds to grow, while heavy salt land is the real thing. However, whether it is light salt or medium salt, heavy salt land, saline-alkali land has always been unsuitable for the growth of millet, wheat and rice. If crops are grown in such places, there will be no harvest at all.

"Actually, I specifically requested this land." Li Xiaoyu was not shocking and never stopped.

"We are now trying to plant corn. We are trying to test the various properties of corn. If we can grow corn on this saline-alkali land and get a harvest, it is of great significance."

"Can saline-alkali land really grow corn? Is there any harvest?" Li Yuanfang looked at the sandy land in front of him. The newly drawn land of this thousand acres was not flat, with dunes rising and falling, some places had small waters, and some places looked white in color, and no grass grew in those places.

"Market has a strong resistance to saline and alkali. In addition, if we appropriately transform these saline and alkali land, we can still harvest all the harvests. Even if the yield is not high, can corn be grown on saline and alkali land. Isn't this an unexpected harvest?"

There were many saline-alkali land in Datang, especially in Guanzhong, especially in the northwest of Guanzhong. In the past, crops could not be grown in these places. If corn could grow and harvest in these places, it would be of far-reaching significance.

There are also many saline-alkali lands in the eastern coastal areas.

"How to transform saline-alkali land?" Li Yuanfang was excited.

"In fact, it's not difficult. The first thing is to do is to level the sand. The flatter the ground, the more effective it can improve the rainfall and irrigation and salt washing, and prevent soil spotty salinization."

Li Yuanfang thought it was not difficult, and it was not a problem to level the sand.

"What else?"

"The second is to build a good irrigation and drainage channel. We must insist on irrigation and washing salt. This is the fundamental way to improve saline-alkali land and reduce the soil saline-alkali content. Then we must continue to increase fertilizer application. There is a horse herdering supervisor here in Shayuan, and there is no shortage of horse manure, so there is no need to worry about fertilizer issues. Livestock manure and urine fertilizer can improve the soil structure, inhibit the rise of water and salt, use fertilizer for a long time, and use water washing, and even convert light salt land into fertile fields."

"There is another thing to do in deep cultivation, especially after autumn, the land is deeply cultivated and does not rake after plowing, forming a rough and loose covering layer. This can not only reduce water evaporation and inhibit soil anti-salt, but also turn the salt accumulated in the topsoil into the deep layer, and turn the subsoil with less salt onto the surface. After sun exposure, it can promote corn growth."

Li Yuanfang knew that he was washing saline-alkali land with water, but this method was not effective in single use, and it may require long-term lavage and the cost was very high.

However, what Li Xiao said was not just a simple washing, but also supporting methods such as leveling the land and deep cultivation.

"The key is to grow corn. Corn has strong salt resistance and is easier to survive. Planting other things is much worse." Li Xiao's words reduced Li Yuanfang's excitement a lot.

"Sow corn, you have to sow late, and increase the sowing volume, which is about one ten minutes later than ordinary fields, so that the seeds can germinate quickly at higher temperatures and shorten the salt damage time. The biggest problem with saline-alkali land is that it is difficult to emerge and germinate, so we need to increase the sowing volume by at least about 30%. In addition, it is best to soak the seeds first to germinate and then sow the seeds. When sowing, you must use the deep groove and shallow cover method to sow seeds. First, open a half-foot ditch, turn the topsoil with high salt to both sides, then sow the seeds into the ditch, and then cover two inches of soil. In this way, the water in the ditch can focus on the ridge and reduce the salt damage."

"There is a secret: be plowing hard and not repel alkali. Deeply plowing, the ground will not be slabs, and plowing after rain can prevent salt."

Li Yuanfang turned to several officials in the Corn Supervisor and said, "Did you remember what the supervisor just now? Take the notes and write them down immediately, and write down the details, and don't miss a word."

Li Xiao smiled, "No need to remember, I have written all of these in the Corn Book, and the contents are more detailed. I will copy them for you to study them carefully."

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

The imperial court set a thousand acres of land for corn prison in Shayuan for experimental fields, but the seeds are limited now, so Li Xiao only planned to plant one piece of experimental fields first.

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

"Pick a piece of light salt land and measure out a part of the field to plant corn. The remaining 900 acres will now start leveling the fields, digging irrigation channels, and washing the fields and ploughing them deeply. This autumn, we will put more corn on this kind of corn."

"Sanlang, if this part of the land can really be harvested in summer, even if it only takes five dou per acre, it would be great. If corn is planted in the saline-alkali land, how much grain will be increased in Guanzhong in the future. A mu only takes three kilograms of seeds, even if it harvests five dou of corn, it will be very cost-effective."

Guanzhong lacks land. As the imperial capital, Guanzhong only has a small piece of Guanzhong Plain, with a large population and a small land. The court has to work hard to transport a large amount of grain from Guandong to pass into Guandong every year. Each grain of Guandong grain is transported to Chang'an, and it consumes a lot of food on the way.

There is little rain and drought in Guanzhong, and there are a lot of water slopes and saline-alkali land. If Li Xiao’s corn can be planted and harvested even saline-alkali land, then I really don’t know how great it is.

"Believe me, today we will see the harvest in this kind of corn in a hundred days. Moreover, it must be more than half a stone per mu."
Chapter completed!