Chapter 297 Talk Show
“…Now, please welcome our reporter Tang Yaxing to bring the latest reports to our audience friends in Argentina…” The TV host sat upright with a serious look on his face.

After a while, Tang Yaxing, a reporter from Argentina, received the content transmitted by satellite communication, and he quickly said:

“Hello, host and audience friends. I am Tang Yaxing, a reporter stationed in Argentina. I will now report on the leaf blight disaster…”

“Yaxing, what is the current disaster situation in Argentina?” the host asked.

“The leaf blight in Argentina has now spread across the country. It started in a small area on the southern coast in early April, and after a month of rapid spread, the entire Pampas has now been affected.”

The host quickly glanced at the teleprompter and asked, “Yaxing, I heard that the price of bread in Argentina has increased by about 350% compared to last year?”

“Yes, host. The prices of bread and various staple foods in Argentina have increased by about 200% to 400% year-on-year, and are currently showing a trend of continuing to rise.” Tang Yaxing’s face was also very heavy.

Then he squatted down and picked up the dead grass in the pasture beside him: “This is the pasture infected with the fungus. At present, most of the mainstream pastures in Argentina are mainly planted with ryegrass, corn grass and other grass plants. This is also the fundamental reason why the leaf blight will instantly hit Argentina’s agriculture…”

The conversation between Tang Yaxing and the host also allowed the audience to initially understand many of the current situations of the South American leaf blight.

It also caused concerns among the audience.

Following the studio’s request, the host turned around and looked at Jiang Miao, Lin Shuya and others who had come to bring the show to the fore.

“I’m sure all the viewers in front of the screen are worried at this moment. Academician Jiang, Academician Lin, what do you think about this South American leaf blight?”

Jiang Miao smiled calmly: “There is no need to worry too much. First of all, the domestic grain reserves are sufficient, and we also have new products such as soybean flour and potato rice, which can replace the staple food properties of wheat and rice to a certain extent.”

“Academician Jiang, can soybeans also be used as flour?” the host guided the topic.

“Yes, the first winter soybean variety planted in the Huaihe River Basin this year is Xiandou No. 4. This variety is high in carbohydrates, medium in fat, medium in protein, and contains a certain amount of fiber. It is also rich in various vitamins needed by the human body. At the same time, its carbohydrate structure is similar to other staple foods. It can completely replace part of the flour, and can also be directly cooked and eaten as bean rice.”

“I see.” The host then followed the studio’s instructions and prepared to connect with the frontline reporter in the Huaihe River area: “Next, please invite Li Xiaomei, the frontline reporter in Su County, to answer the detailed information about Senzu Bean No. 4 for our audience friends…”

“Hello, host.”

“Hello, Xiaomei, please introduce Senzu Bean No. 4 to us now!”

“no problem.”

Li Xiaomei, a capable female reporter with short hair, is working in a nearby soybean field with local farmers and relevant staff.

“Dear viewers, these soybean fields in front of you are the Senzu soybeans that are about to be harvested, and they are also the Senzu 4 variety…”

With the cooperation of Li Xiaomei and other staff members and farmers, many viewers finally understood the situation of Senzu No. 4.

This year, more than 4 million mu of Xiandou No. were planted in the Huaihe River Basin. Although it was mixed with winter wheat, the harvest time of the two was staggered.

Finally, Li Xiaomei turned to the camera and introduced the yield of Xiandou No. 4: “At present, the average yield per mu of these Xiandou No. 4 is generally around 400 kg to 420 kg, and this summer harvest will produce about 1800 million tons of fully nutritious soybeans.”

The host followed the camera and looked at Jiang Miao: “Professor Jiang, Sendou No. 4 is the variety you cultivated. Can this soybean completely replace the current staple foods such as wheat, corn, and rice?”

“Of course, but there is no need for a complete replacement.” Jiang Miao shook his head.

The host followed the prompter and asked in a serious tone, “Oh? According to the assessment of many domestic and foreign experts and scholars, the fungus will sooner or later spread to all parts of the world. If large areas of wheat, corn, and rice in China are affected by leaf blight, will we need to use substitutes such as fairy beans, potatoes, and cassava to solve the food problem?”

Jiang Miao said confidently: “It is indeed inevitable that the fungus will spread to all parts of the world, but please rest assured, viewers across the country, and believe in the scientific research strength of China. I can launch a series of fairy beans in a few years, and I can cultivate grass crop varieties that can resist the fungus in a few years.”

If someone else said this, they would probably be criticized by audiences across the country.

But when Jiang Miao said this, most of the audience instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, Jiang Miao’s halo is too dazzling.

Hailufeng Company was established just over four years ago, but it has already developed a large number of new varieties, and each variety has various advantages.

Although Jiang Miao’s energy is limited, if he continues at his previous breeding and research and development speed and focuses on the three core grass crops of wheat, rice and corn, it is estimated that the problem of disease-resistant varieties can be solved within two to three years.

Therefore, his speech on the TV program had a stabilizing effect, instantly reducing the number of people in the country who wanted to rush to buy staple food by more than half.

Of course, this only reduced a large part of the supply. There is still a small part that does not believe in it and continues to purchase food.

Some people even bought more than ten tons of rice and stockpiled it, probably hoping to make a fortune from the disaster.

Jiang Miao continued, “If you are still worried, you can check out the soybean planting area on the official website this year. It is estimated that the soybean planting area in the three northern regions this year can reach about 2.4 million mu. Together with the planting areas in North China, Huaihe River, and the Loess Plateau, the total planting area in the country will exceed 4 million mu.”

Another scholar in the agricultural field said with a smile: “Academician Jiang is right. Don’t worry. At present, the production of Senzu soybeans can generally reach two crops a year, and the average annual yield per mu can reach about 700 kilograms. This year, it is expected to produce 2 million tons of Senzu soybeans.”

The host also took the opportunity to say: “The nutritional value of Senzu soybeans is higher than that of ordinary staple foods, especially Senzu No. 4. Audience friends can order a batch of Senzu No. 4 online, or buy soybean powder and try to make various foods.”

In short, after this interview program, the restless mood of the domestic people was instantly suppressed.

Jiang Miao and his wife did not continue to stay in Beijing, but quickly returned to the Shanmei headquarters in two groups. After all, he had already made his statement on the TV program, so he had to keep his word, otherwise it would cause big trouble.

Originally, He Jintang disagreed with what he said on the show. After all, if you say such things, you have to take responsibility.

If Jiang Miao fails to fulfill his promise on time, his reputation will plummet.

But on the one hand, Jiang Miao was confident in his abilities, and on the other hand, he was worried that this leaf blight would impact the country’s economy which was beginning to recover, so he made the promise.

At least in the next one or two years, his words can calm people’s hearts.

Therefore, he naturally cannot waste time now and must race against time to come up with new varieties.

As Jiang Miao and his wife returned to Shanmei, the fungus strains that were airlifted back from abroad were also escorted to Shanmei’s laboratory.

The couple, along with more than 50 relevant researchers, began to conduct a comprehensive study. The authorities did not place all their hopes on Jiang Miao and his wife.

After all, we have to be prepared for any eventuality, so more than a dozen other related project teams emerged overnight. Everyone is using the Nuwa system and those Hehuang fungus strains to carry out various research.

Some people are working on new varieties that are resistant to leaf blight.

Some people are researching pesticides that can kill and inhibit the fungus.

Various forces abroad are also focusing their efforts on studying how to deal with the aggressive leaf blight.

Even America, who was known for her unkindness, did not dare to do anything tricky at this moment, because they were worried that if they were not careful, they would be in real trouble.

Now the food production in North America and Europe has been hit hard by climate anomalies. If the leaf blight is allowed to spread, they don’t know whether other regions will be doomed, but America will definitely be the first to be doomed.

Just as all parties were busy studying how to deal with leaf blight, the leaf blight began to spread northward along South America and South Africa.

at the same time.

After watching Jiang Miao’s interview program, many domestic viewers also placed orders for Sendou No. 4 dried beans or bean powder.

Among them, major food bloggers are the most enthusiastic.

Now Sendou No. 4 is the password for traffic, so these bloggers will naturally not miss this great opportunity.

Soon, various tutorial videos on cooking dried beans and soy powder products appeared on major video websites.

Pinno King Food Tutorial, which frequently updates snack tutorials, posted the video as soon as possible.

“Take all the dry goods, and you will make money by opening a store. Hello everyone, I am Teacher Pinnuo Wang…” As Pinnuo Wang’s opening remarks slowly sounded, the video also began to enter the formal food-making process.

Since they were trying out new ingredients, not only King Pinno appeared, but even A-Du came over to help.

“This is bean flour. Let’s try making jelly similar to pea flour…”

Ah Du picked up the packaging bag and introduced it to the audience: “There are three types of Senzu bean powder that can be purchased. The one in the yellow bag in my hand is whole bean powder. It says that it can be used to make bread, paste, scones and other baked pastries.”

Then he picked up another bag: “This green bag of soybean flour is called de-oiled soybean flour. It can be used to make steamed buns, steamed bread, noodles and other steamed pastries.”

Finally, he picked up the remaining bag: “This soy flour in white packaging is similar to ordinary low-gluten flour without fat and some protein. It is introduced on it.”

While Adu was introducing it, Pinno Wang had already finished making the jelly.

A few people who came to learn tried the red oil jelly and found that it tasted similar to pea jelly.

Then Pinnuo Wang and Adu started to make pastries such as roujiamo, noodles, buns, and baked naan.

They found that the three types of soy flour are indeed good, especially when used in baked pastries. The whole soy flour is rich in fat and protein, and has the flavor of roasted old tofu.

As time goes by, more and more food bloggers are creating content in this area. Various attempts at soy flour and bean rice have not only enriched the recipes, but also made many people understand that Senzu No. 4, as a staple food, will not cause severe gastrointestinal bloating like traditional soybeans.

Although there is no shortage of rice and flour in the country now, many people with a sense of crisis have taken the initiative to try cooking with new varieties of soybeans.

Among the more popular dishes, of course, are the jelly that replaces pea flour, as well as the roasted bean curd buns.

In the Huaihe River Basin, which is the main production area of ​​Sendou No. 4, many rural families have begun to cook bean rice mixed with rice, thus reducing some rice consumption.

Of course, this is just a preliminary attempt.

If rice, corn and wheat can be updated into new varieties within two or three years in the future, they will naturally not choose Senzu beans as their staple food. At most, they will use them as a miscellaneous grain and side dish.

However, if rice, corn and wheat cannot be updated to new varieties or the update is not timely in the next two or three years, then Senzu soybeans must be used as a substitute.

In addition, many rural areas in the south of the Yangtze River have also purchased Senzu No. 4 seeds from the local Hailufeng Company’s agricultural material center. These people plan to grow Senzu No. soybeans themselves just in case.

Although Jiang Miao is now the mainstay of the domestic economy, the increasingly severe leaf blight disaster abroad has caused widespread suffering in South America and South Africa. Although many people believe in Jiang Miao, they still feel unsafe and have begun to grow soybeans as a reserve.

As for why not grow potatoes, sweet potatoes and cassava?
The answer is that root crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cassava are difficult to preserve for a long time if they are not floured or sliced ​​and dried.

But soybeans are different. After being dried, they can be stored for a relatively long time in a ventilated and dry warehouse.

Therefore, farmers generally choose to plant Senzu soybeans as reserves, and at the same time plant some potatoes and sweet potatoes as short-term staple food.

Obviously, the official website’s statistics that the domestic fairy bean planting area will exceed 4 million mu this year do not include the planting area of ​​individual households in the south of the Yangtze River. After all, most of these individual households grow for their own consumption or for friends and relatives, so this part is difficult to count.

However, Hailufeng Company can make a rough estimate, because only Hailufeng Company sells the seeds of Senzu soybeans. Therefore, it only needs to count the sales volume and sales areas to know how many acres of Senzu soybeans are planted in the area.

According to internal data, in early May alone, the Senzu 4 seeds purchased by farmers in the area south of the Yangtze River were enough to plant nearly million acres of land.

And as leaf blight becomes more and more serious around the world, it is estimated that the sales of Senzu No. 4 seeds will continue to increase.

Just when the country was experimenting with new food.

Omar, the head of the Egyptian grain trading company who came to Shanghai in March to discuss grain purchases, and others once again flew to Shanghai in a hurry.

The reason they flew here again was, on the one hand, to confirm the share of grain purchased previously, and on the other hand, to consult companies such as COFCO Group whether prices would increase in the future.

Now international food prices have rebounded again, with the rate of increase even greater than the one at the beginning of the year. As the head of an Egyptian food trading company, Omar is naturally very concerned about the situation in this regard.

(End of this chapter)