#990 - Sterile plants, a head start in hybrid rice research

With the sun high in the sky, Quan Yi, having finished his morning training and breakfast, appeared on Jin Shu's back.

Barefoot, he rooted himself in the damp soil, waving his hand to direct Jin Shu, dividing the planting area.

"The planting area is divided into four zones: east, west, north, and south."

"The east side, the most convenient location for transporting people, will be designated for planting herbs for the three types of pills."

"The west side, the farthest away and closest to the Tai Yi Crown, can be designated as the area for planting immortal herbs."

"The north side can be used for research and planting related to grains, such as hybrid rice."

"The south side will be reserved for now, in case we need more planting area in the future, to be used as a backup."

After deciding on the divisions, Quan Yi first went to the westernmost piece of land, personally bending down to plant the immortal herb seeds he had obtained from Dugu Bo, one by one.

As soon as Quan Yi planted an immortal seed, a clear sound of sprouting would come from within the moist soil.

Before long, accompanied by a rich vitality, vibrant sprouts would grow on the surface of the black, damp soil.

The land's hundredfold acceleration and immense energy directly propelled the seeds to germinate.

Without Quan Yi needing to carefully tend to them, these immortal seeds freely stretched their bodies, taking root and sprouting in this excellent soil.

When Quan Yi had carefully planted all the seeds according to each immortal herb's habits, many colorful stars had already appeared on the bare, damp soil.

The longer the age of an immortal seed, the more its value will increase geometrically.

The immortal herbs from Dugu Bo were at least ten thousand years old, so if Quan Yi cultivated immortal herbs of the hundred-thousand-year level, their effects would inevitably reach a new level.

However, even next to the Yin-Yang Golden Pond, it would take thousands of years to cultivate immortal herbs of the hundred-thousand-year level.

Therefore, this western area could not be utilized in the short term.

In order to maximize the use of this area, Quan Yi, in addition to visiting Dugu Bo, was also mobilizing all the power he could to collect various rare seeds, preparing to fill this area.

Even if he couldn't find top-notch immortal items, common immortal herbs such as ginseng, He Shou Wu, and Ganoderma could also enter the western area.

Not only was Quan Yi working hard on this matter, but the forces of the island distributed across the continent were also playing a role.

Filling the entire western area was just around the corner.

After dealing with the immortal seeds, Quan Yi flew to the north side.

Looking from above, unlike the dark black of the other three areas, the entire northern area was filled with oily green rice.

In the breeze, the fragrance of green grass wafted over.

Looking from above, each rice plant was neatly arranged, like neatly placed pieces on a chessboard, densely packed, but uniform.

Countless massive amounts of rice formed a green ocean, Quan Yi's pupils contracted, and purple-gold light replaced the original color.

With the help of the Purple-Gold Dragon Eyes, Quan Yi constantly searched for special rice plants among the massive amount of rice.

Before long, through meticulous observation, he quickly discovered several special rice plants.

You should know that rice is self-pollinating, which means that each flower has both stamens and pistils.

During self-pollination, it will drop the pollen from the stamen onto the pistil to cultivate seeds.

But among so many rice plants, there were a few that were not like this. Their male organs could not form normal pollen and react with their own healthy pistils to carry out normal reproduction.

If you have studied the basic principles of hybrid rice, you will know that there is a very important factor, which is to find cytoplasmic male sterile lines of rice.

By combining these two, a large number of sterile lines can be propagated as the mother.

On the basis of completing this step, finally find a kind of hybrid seed that can restore fertility and has hybrid advantages.

This is the three-line method for cultivating hybrid rice.

Quan Yi had already taught the relevant theories to the agricultural department before developing the island, so that they could carry out relevant experiments.

However, it is still a bit unrealistic to find these three kinds of rice at the same time in just a few years.

However, now that there is this accelerated planting area, one day is equivalent to more than one hundred days.

The growth cycle of rice is more than one hundred days, which means that a complete growth cycle can be experienced in one day, and a one-year experiment can be completed in one day or three days.

Quan Yi was personally experiencing how much help this terrifying speed could provide for the research of hybrid rice.

After finding the sterile plants, Quan Yi successively searched for external male pollen for artificial pollination and waited for the results.

Taking advantage of this time, he flew to the east side and neatly planted various medicinal materials needed for refining pills on it.

There are relatively many seeds of these medicinal materials, and coupled with the wide variety, the first planting took up a quarter of the area.

According to the amount of main ingredients planted here, at least 50,000 portions of pills can be refined when they mature.

When the seeds mature and are propagated, it will not take long to fill the entire area and provide pills for 200,000 people.

You should know that pills are disposable. After each person eats them once, they can operate the Xuantian Gong by themselves.

The current population is 400,000, and even if the birth rate is high, it will not be able to consume the 200,000 portions of pills produced each year.

Although Quan Yi had already thought highly of the effect of the damp soil, when the prediction was transformed into reality, he still underestimated the horror of this planting holy land.

"How do I feel that before the relevant infrastructure is laid here, I can advance the research progress by decades myself."

"Speaking of which, the entire process has been accelerated by more than a hundred times. Even if the staff arrives, can anyone keep up with this rhythm?"

Quan Yi rubbed his eyebrows and found that if the efficiency was too high, there would be a problem that others could not keep up with the efficiency.

"It seems that Jin Shu still has to assist in planting, harvesting, and other physical things, and the researchers only need to focus on research."

After deciding on the future research method, Quan Yi had a very important thing to accomplish.

After these few days of brewing, the entire barrier is in a stage of steady improvement. During this time, the range expansion that Quan Yi deliberately suppressed can now be unsealed.

Quan Yi stood above the transparent罩 above the Yin-Yang Golden Pond, looked at the entire island to the east, and said softly:

"Let the entire island evolve together."

"Yin-Yang Five Elements Flame Array, Expand!"

Under Quan Yi's command, the silent barrier quickly expanded outward, enveloping the entire island inside.