Chapter 15 Kelp Seedlings
On the sea.
Li Duoyu and Chen Dongqing drove a sampan boat and shuttled through the kelp seedling breeding base.
For coastal farmers, this small sampan is just like a land bicycle, which is very convenient and easy to use.
Even by 2020, the marine farmers on Dandan Island are still accustomed to using this small sampan for marine breeding operations.
However, there are many disadvantages. Most sampans are not equipped with roofs for convenient operations.
When the sun is scorching and there is a sudden heavy rain, it will make the farmers very uncomfortable, but as a native islander, these are not a big deal.
The small sampan drove along the kelp rope, and Li Duoyu leaned down from time to time to pull the kelp seedlings out of the sea, touching them here and there.
At this time, the varieties cultivated by the Fisheries Research Institute were not particularly good. The kelp seedlings looked thin and long, and there were some curls on both sides.
It can't be compared with the high-quality varieties such as Golden No. 1 and Golden No. 2 in later generations, but considering the actual situation, Li Duoyu was already very satisfied.
After all, this was the 1980s.
In the planned economy era, the country planted kelp for medical treatment, and didn't care about the yield and variety, as long as it could be grown.
At that time, the diet in some parts of my country was long-term iodine-deficient, causing many people to suffer from goiter, a disease that causes thyroid enlargement due to iodine deficiency.
In addition to goiter, iodine deficiency can also cause various physical problems. Children with iodine deficiency are likely to have low intelligence, and pregnant women with iodine deficiency are also at risk of miscarriage.
Of course, in addition to people's physical iodine deficiency, the development of science and technology also requires a large amount of iodine, such as the catalysts of rockets and artillery shells, which require a large amount of iodine, and the medical field also requires a large amount of iodine.
At that time, due to special circumstances, many countries were reluctant to export iodine to us.
In order to lift the iodine blockade and take the initiative in iodine production, kelp happened to contain a lot of iodine, so the country had to study how to extract iodine from kelp.
This led to a frenzy of kelp farming in the north for a long time under the planned economy.
But it was not so smooth in the south.
Kelp likes cold and is not heat-resistant, so it is not easy to grow it well in the south.
The summer seedlings studied by the Fisheries Research Institute are designed for the climate characteristics of the south.
Although these kelp seedlings are not very good now, they are already very good under the current science and technology.
Chen Dongqing, who was standing aside, looked at Li Duoyu curiously. He looked at the seedlings very carefully. Standing here, he looked like a scientific researcher.
"You know how to look at seedlings?"
"Looking at kelp seedlings is just like looking at piglets. Of course, the bigger and fatter they are, the more milk they can grab, and the better-looking they are."
At this time, Li Duoyu had not yet been exposed to kelp farming, and he did not want to stand out too much and scare his uncle.
Chen Dongqing was slightly stunned. Although Li Duoyu's words were rough, they were not rough. He really told him that good kelp seedlings were like this.
In the past two days, his nephew had frightened him too much, so now he has some immunity.
Even if Li Duoyu said that he jumped out of a stone, Chen Dongqing might hesitate.
Looking at the kelp seedlings in front of him, Chen Dongqing continued:
"The best time to plant the summer kelp seedlings in our institute is November. There is only more than a month left. Can you make it in time?"
Li Duoyu frowned slightly:
"It should be no problem."
When saying this, Li Duoyu was really at a loss, because up to now, he seemed to have only solved the problem of kelp seedlings.
And wanting to cultivate kelp is not a simple matter. It is not that the kelp can grow freely by just throwing it into the sea.
Some cultivation equipment is needed, such as the palm rope specially used to hang the kelp, and the float to make the palm rope float, which he has none of.
In addition to the cultivation equipment, the cultivation raft frame is generally used for kelp cultivation, which requires the bottom of the sea to be staked, that is, piled, to fix the kelp cultivation raft frame.
In this era, it is not a simple matter to stake the bottom of the sea, unlike the pile-driving ship in later generations.
A few bangs, it's done.
Now if you want to drive dozens of piles in the sea, it will take at least ten days and a half months, and it will not be done at all.
Even if you get the breeding raft frame ready, you still need fishermen to help pick up the seedlings, and you need to train them in seedling picking techniques in advance. Finally, you must get two small sampans for daily maintenance of the kelp culture.
In short, there are many things to do. If Li Duoyu had not had previous breeding experience, he would definitely give up on the spot when faced with so many problems.
But in this era, apart from taking shortcuts, it is really not easy to make money. Even going out to sea to fish is a big risk, and seafood is very cheap.
Otherwise, Li Duoyu really doesn't want to engage in breeding, but the arrow has been shot and there is no turning back.
Li Duoyu glanced at his uncle and asked:
"Is there any way to get some benefits for me, so that the institute can sponsor me some kelp ropes and floats."
Chen Dongqing frowned instantly:
"According to the current policy, during the trial period, our institute provides kelp seedlings to farmers for free, which is already the biggest benefit."
"Can't you be flexible and report to the leaders and ask for instructions?"
"If you can be flexible, there are so many people in our institute, and many relatives are fishermen. They have already gone to work, so it's not your turn."
"That's true, why don't you try harder?"
"Li Duoyu, why are you so stubborn? I said it's impossible, but you keep asking."
Li Duoyu whispered:
"If I don't hesitate, I can get Xiaoying."
"You are really a..."
Seeing that he couldn't get more benefits from the Fisheries Research Institute, Li Duoyu finally said:
"Since there are no other benefits, you can always put up a sign for me."
Chen Dongqing's face was very dark, but he couldn't do anything about his nephew. He was depressed and took out a cigarette from his pocket. After lighting it, he slowly said:
"What sign?"
"It's the sign of the kelp breeding base. Otherwise, if I really set it up, the people in the village might get red eye disease, and there will definitely be a lot of people who come to trouble me. I must have a backer."
Chen Dongqing took a puff of his cigarette:
"It hasn't even started yet. If you know it, you know it can be done. On Dandan Island, just don't cause trouble to others. No one dares to cause trouble to you."
"I've changed my ways and parted ways with those drinking buddies."
Chen Dongqing was stunned for a while and said:
"It's easy to put up a sign. I'll talk to the leaders of the institute and there will be no problem. I'll do it for you later."
"Comrade Dongqing, thank you for your hard work. I'll treat you to a meal later."
"Call me uncle."
"I'm not used to it. Forget it."
After watching the kelp seedlings, the two drove the sampan back to the shore. Before returning to Dandan Island, Li Duoyu planned to go to Shangfeng Town first.
The breeding base happened to be only a few miles away from Shangfeng Station. Chen Dongqing directly asked the tractor driver to take him there.
On the way to Shangfeng Town, he saw a spectacular scene. The small dirt road was crowded with Jiefang and Dongfeng trucks.
Because their hand tractor was moving too slowly, the trucks behind them kept honking at them, and there were also many truck drivers with better qualities.
They just started talking about the quintessence of Chinese culture.