Vincent Music
From engineering to agriculture, from instrument engineer to extension researcher, Zhang Baodong, who is nearly sixty years old, has been working in the front line of agricultural development and promotion for 20 years, "writing" papers in every acre of fields in southern Beijing and in the hearts of every farmer. He is the "leading goose" of agricultural development in Jingnan, and he has set an example for agricultural people who serve the three rural areas.
Teacher Zhang explained the "sweetness" measurement of watermelon for the author
Agricultural technologist who "went halfway out"
Zhang Baodong specializes in "mechanical drawing" in school. In his own words, this is "incompatible with the agricultural extension work he is doing now, and it is not at all touched." In 2000, Zhang Baodong, who worked as an instrument engineer in a chemical plant, was transferred to the Agricultural Technology Extension Station in Daxing District. At the age of 40, he switched from engineering to agriculture, and when he first came here, Zhang Baodong knew nothing about agriculture. Zhang Baodong, who has a stronger personality and does not like to live in a chaotic life, found an acquaintance to borrow books on university agriculture and began to teach himself university agriculture. "At that time, I went to work during the day and read at night, I couldn't understand it at first, the pressure was quite high, I read it 3 times to understand, and my hair was reading 'no'..." Teacher Zhang said to me half-jokingly. In this way, Zhang Baodong spent 5 years of self-study to complete all the relevant courses of the university under unremitting efforts, and spent 10 years to be admitted to the promotion researcher. In the grassroots extension department, this is already the highest technical title.
Zhang Baodong, who "studies with dry", has been working at the Agricultural Technology Extension Station in Daxing District for 20 years. From 2002 to 2018, he has won 11 agricultural awards from the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing Municipality, Daxing District, etc., 4 district-level scientific and technological progress awards, and 29 advanced individuals in Beijing and Daxing District. Obtained 6 utility model patent certificates for agricultural irrigation and cultivation technology. He has become a "banner" for the promotion of Agricultural Technology in Daxing.
At the same time, Zhang Baodong also did not forget to cultivate a new force for the promotion of agricultural technology. Teacher Zhang can be said to be the "refueling pump" of young agricultural technology promoters. He has always implemented the spirit of "passing, helping and leading" in his work, led young people to write 9 agricultural technology books, published more than 50 scientific and technological papers, and also led 15 young technicians from the unit to be admitted to agronomists and senior agronomists.
The courseware made by Teacher Zhang is flexible and vivid, and even the author, a "layman", can understand it at a glance
"Three-dimensional" water-saving technology expert
During his tenure as director of the water-saving room of the Daxing District Agricultural Technology Extension Station, Zhang Baodong began to study the new topic of "less irrigation without reducing production". Teacher Zhang recalled: "In order to effectively save water, various methods were tested at that time. Together with the water-saving room of the Beijing Agricultural Technology Extension Station, we have implemented new programs while doing projects, and together with some innovative experiments we have done ourselves, we have improved water-saving irrigation a lot. ”
The corn "rain and dry farming" water-saving science and technology demonstration project led by Zhang Baodong has won the first prize of the Beijing Municipal Agricultural Technology Promotion Award "Integration and Demonstration Promotion of Corn Dry farming Water Saving Technology Integration and Demonstration Promotion in suburban Beijing".
Teacher Zhang explained that "rain to raise corn" is not to water, wait for rain to sow seeds - just in the right season, but does not affect the maturity of corn. At the same time, Teacher Zhang also sprinkled "water retaining agent" in the field, using its strong water absorption and dry release characteristics, in the particularly dry time, let the previous water-filled "water retaining agent" slowly release water into the field, avoiding the evaporation and waste of irrigation water, and effectively improving the efficiency of water use. Teacher Zhang told me, "We have done a lot of experiments by growing corn, wheat, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, etc. The use of water retaining agents, released in times of drought, the water-saving effect is very good. ”
In terms of irrigation technology, Zhang Baodong also used a lot of brains. Our traditional irrigation methods are mostly "large ditch irrigation", which often causes waste of water resources. Teacher Zhang explored the irrigation law of melon vegetables and developed a new surface irrigation technology that saves both water and fertilizer - "M" under the film irrigation. "M" under the membrane irrigation saves 128 cubic meters of water per mu, saves 8.5 kg of fertilizer, makes the membrane moist, the shed is mild, reduces the occurrence of diseases, reduces the use of pesticides, and accumulates more than 5,000 mu of promotion area.
To put it simply, this irrigation method is to "stack" the flat irrigation ditch, turn the "two-dimensional" 70 cm ditch into a "three-dimensional" 30 cm ditch, and use high slope planting to make the crop root system in the three planes of the ditch can effectively absorb water and nutrients, so that watering and fertilization can save a lot. In addition, the film is then coated on the ditch so that the water does not evaporate, further saving water. Teacher Zhang said: "We have proved through repeated experiments that under this irrigation method, the water receiving area of crops is the same, and there is no reduction in yield at all. And its application is very wide, the cost is also very low, the people can afford it, and it is simple to learn, and the effect is quite good. ”
The "most down-to-earth" watermelon grower
At the end of 2010, Zhang Baodong was transferred to the watermelon room to specialize in watermelon planting technology. In the 10 years of the watermelon room, Zhang Baodong developed and promoted 6 patented technologies and 12 watermelon cultivation technologies. At present, farmers in Daxing District basically use these 12 "golden rules" to grow melons.
Watermelons are planted in early spring. The weather is warm and cold at first, and the seedlings are still very young. The traditional "flood irrigation" method will not only waste water resources, but also cause the temperature of the field to drop rapidly, so that the seedlings will be frozen and affect the growth. Therefore, changing the irrigation method of watermelon planting has become the first problem for Zhang Baodong to overcome when working in the watermelon room. Initially, Mr. Zhang and his colleagues promoted the "drip irrigation" method to farmers in the field. "At that time, we promoted a large area of drip irrigation. Drip irrigation is a very good method of water saving, but because of the high investment, it cannot be promoted. Teacher Zhang said. Drip irrigation requires water-soluble fertilizer. Good fertilizer is expensive, more than 10,000 yuan per ton. Cheap fertilizers have poor water solubility and residue that can clog drip irrigation waterways. The water pipe is blocked and cannot be dredged, so you can only buy new ones, and the people will not use it.
The drip irrigation method, which could not be promoted because of the high cost, encountered "Waterloo", but Zhang Baodong did not give up, and he began to study micro-spray irrigation technology. Teacher Zhang told me: "Micro-spray irrigation is relatively convenient, and the requirements for fertilizer are relatively low. Moreover, even if the water pipe is blocked, you can use it by finding a needle and pricking it. ”
Micro-spray irrigation has a fatal drawback, it is a "closed-circuit system" where farmers cannot fertilize. Teacher Zhang began to think of ways to develop a method of "gravity fertilization". "Gravity fertilization" puts fertilizer on a high place and implements "closed-circuit system" automatic fertilization through gravity. Teacher Zhang recalled: "At that time, I did a lot of experiments, constantly changing the height of the fertilizer barrel, the weight of the fertilizer, the pressure of the water, etc., and put a lot of effort into it, and it took more than two years to study it. ”
After practice, Zhang Baodong found that the automatic fertilization of micro-spray irrigation will be uneven, and efforts must be made to transform. He changed the original one-way inlet to three-way water, through the fertilizer applicator, let the fertilizer solution mixed with the water, diluted, and used the change in water pressure to apply the fertilizer evenly into the field. In order to prevent the change of water pressure from causing the water pipe to burst, Zhang Baodong thought hard, added a frequency converter to the irrigation system, set the pressure in advance, and made the motor speed adjust with the water pressure to protect the pipeline. Teacher Zhang said: "This system is simple to say, but it plays a very big role, and it can be fertilized without investing too much equipment and funds. Pump plus inverter, the cost of work is about 7,000 yuan, can provide 60-70 acres of land irrigation, several households share, the cost is not high. ”
In order to promote this new technology to farmers, Zhang Baodong took his test equipment and carried a small blackboard to the field. Teacher Zhang told me: "Explain to farmers, do not use 'advanced' methods such as testing water and fertilizer content. I demonstrated with potassium permanganate (which turns purple red after dissolving in water) to prove that the experiment was successful. Just let the peasants see the effect for themselves simply and clearly – and show them most intuitively: Is this going to work? Uneven fertilization? Is irrigation fast or not? We must let the people understand it at a glance, and when they hear it, they can promote it. ”
Promoters who are more industrious than bees
After the implementation of "facility agriculture", watermelon cultivation was carried out in greenhouses, not affected by bad weather, but there was also a problem of pollination difficulties. Without the natural wind and insects grown in the open to help pollinate, the watermelons grown in greenhouses can only be pollinated by hand. Teacher Zhang told me that artificial pollination is to manually pick male flowers, and then "mix" pollinate on the female flowers one by one, usually a shed to exchange about 1000-2000 pieces, the workload is quite large. In addition, during the pollination period, the melon shed should maintain a particularly high temperature and humidity, which has a great impact on the health of the pollinator.
Bee pollination was not invented by Teacher Zhang, but the promotion of this pollination method in Daxing District was done little by little. Teacher Zhang said: "At first, the people did not accept it, and felt that it could not be taught. We rented 10 boxes of bees from the Tongzhou Chaobai River beekeepers, gave them to the people for free, and promised not to pay for the loss of flour. Slowly, from 10 acres of land in 2011 to 15,000 acres per year, bees have been pollinated. At that time, we did reporting, publicity, subsidies, tossing and turning for so many years, why didn't we use this method later without subsidizing the people? It's because it's affordable for everyone. "Bee pollination is popular with melon farmers, and bee farms can also benefit. Teacher Zhang calculated an account for me: for beekeepers, rent bees for 180 yuan a box, basically each melon farmer rents for about 10 days, each bee farm totals 5000 ~ 6000 boxes, more than a considerable income; for melon farmers, bees pollinate 1 acre of land to save 3.5 working hours, according to 150 yuan and 1 working hour, 1 mu of land can save 345 yuan.
At the beginning of the promotion, bee pollination also encountered a lot of problems. Under the same bees and environmental conditions, medium-fruit watermelons can pollinate normally, while small-fruit watermelons can only reach 20% of the pollinator fruit rate. Zhang Baodong studied the pollination of small fruit watermelons and began experimenting in 2011, which was done for 5 years.
Teacher Zhang recalled: "After two consecutive years of failure, in 2013 I really couldn't think of any new way, so I put on a camera in the melon field and monitored it outside the melon shed for 4 hours – I wanted to see why the bees didn't pollinate." "Zhang Baodong stared intently at the monitor, and the bees remembered once they came." I found that the little bees are quite industrious and can visit a flower 20 times. But it still can't be pollinated. Teacher Zhang recalled, "Later, after repeated experiments, it was finally found that the small fruit-type melon male flowers had less pollen, and the bees could not bring the powder." ”
Finding the reason for the inability to pollinate, Zhang Baodong was invigorated and immediately began to study how to increase pollen. There was a lot of pollen in the fruit-type melon, and Teacher Zhang planted two rows of medium-fruit melons on the useless open space on both sides of the melon shed, and the immediate effect was immediate - the fruit set rate soared to 80%. The following year, Zhang Baodong continued to study improving the fruit set rate. Another round of repeated calculations and experiments, Teacher Zhang planted more pollen in the melon shed in the "useless" place and "saw the needle" to plant more pollen of small and medium-sized fruit type yellow melon and wild melon, which greatly increased the amount of pollen without affecting the normal growth of watermelon. "This time the pollen is enough, and the stubble is planted." 100% fruit! The 'one guy' succeeded, and the people were happy! Teacher Zhang told me happily.
The backbone of "ghost ideas" to get rich
Zhang Baodong is currently doing the work of dense cultivation of small fruit-type watermelons. Dense cultivation means high yields, which means that the income of melon farmers increases. Teacher Zhang said: "We have to let farmers find ways to earn money, this is our job. The best way to operate, low cost, and make money is the best. The 'tall' looks very good, but with an investment of hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan, the peasants cannot do this job. ”
Watermelon cultivation has two methods of "ground climbing" and "shelving", but the "shelf" can only be planted with small fruit-type melons. Small fruit-type melons are traditionally "on the shelves" for planting, planting 1200-1400 plants per acre of land. After repeated experiments, calculations and examinations, Zhang Baodong finally found the best way and number of plants for small fruit-type melons to be "on the shelves", with the premise of not reducing the quality of watermelons, under the same management and fertilization conditions, 1 mu of land can increase income by more than 5,000 yuan.
This result made the melon farmers very happy, but Zhang Baodong was not satisfied. He said: "Later, I thought that such a good seedling, it is a pity to pick a stubble, and I began to experiment with leaving 'two stubble' fruits." "If you want the watermelon to bear two stubble fruits, you must ensure that the seedlings are still "alive" after the stubble is picked. Zhang Baodong repeatedly studied the harvest timing and picking technology, and finally found a way to let the melon re-establish a second stubble. Teacher Zhang told me: "We have done a lot of experiments, the success rate is very high, 95% can be harvested. Moreover, the fruit of the second stubble can ripen in 28 days, the harvest time is short, and it is in season. So the income goes up a big chunk. ”
Due to the promotion of new technologies, the current fruit type melon has become larger, reaching more than 18 pounds. Teacher Zhang analyzed: "For many consumers, the melon is too big to eat, and the taste in the refrigerator will be worse. I want the melon to become smaller, and the peasants' incomes to remain small. Therefore, Zhang Baodong came up with a "ghost idea" - the cultivation of medium-fruit watermelon hangers. Under the traditional planting technology, the medium-fruit melon cannot be cultivated on the shelves due to its heavy weight, so Teacher Zhang came up with the method of climbing the fruit melon vine and the nutrition branch hanger. This not only makes full use of space, so that the vegetative branches absorb sunlight more fully, but also reduces the density of the leaves on the ground, increases the light of the watermelon, and increases its sugar. Due to the increase in planting density, the weight of a single watermelon is reduced to 13-14 pounds, but the number can yield about 400 more. Teacher Zhang told me: "This method is easy to implement, not only can it easily increase the yield, but also the sales of watermelon can also increase." ”
"Soil expert" of "net fishing dry goods"
During the interview, teacher Zhang Baodong told me a small story of "skylight wind", and I was quite impressed.
Teacher Zhang told me that at the beginning, the plastic greenhouse was built with 4 pieces of film - two pieces on the top, 1 piece on the left and right, which is convenient for wind. After a few years of promotion, the two drawbacks of this construction method have emerged. First of all, the roof of the shed is relatively high, and the short women cannot reach the film when they let the wind blow. Secondly, the top is made of a combination of two pieces of film, which will accumulate water when it rains, and it will be loosened over time, and the sealing is very poor. Later, many melon farmers spontaneously changed the melon shed into a film on top. In this way, when the temperature is high and windproof, you can only put the ground foot wind and waist wind, and the melon shed has a long time to let the wind go, "when it is cold, the melon on the side will start the natural protection program, grow a thick skin to protect itself from the thick skin melon; when it is hot, the cold and hot air convection, and the melon that the cells expand too fast will crack, causing losses." Teacher Zhang told me, "I thought of a 'soil' method to see if I could install a 'smoke pipe' on the roof, which could release the wind and could not use electricity - there was no power supply in the greenhouse, and it was not realistic for the people to hold the battery every day and let the wind go..."
After some hard thinking, Zhang Baodong finally came up with a way. Then, Teacher Zhang took out the PPT for the lecture to the melon farmers and explained to me in detail the principle of the "artificial automation" window: "I made a window that can be supported, designed the right angle and height - to prevent the wind from blowing the equipment, install fixed pulleys and ropes, people stand at the door of the greenhouse, as soon as the rope window is opened." "Teacher Zhang told me that the cost of this set of air venting equipment is controlled within 150 yuan. They did experiments, half an hour, the temperature in the melon shed dropped from 38 degrees to 33 degrees, the relative humidity from 80% to 55%, reaching the suitable temperature for watermelon growth, the efficiency can be said to be very high.
Listening to these ingenious and simple technical methods, I can't help but sigh: "You are worthy of being an agricultural expert with an engineering background!" ”
Teacher Zhang smiled and said to me, "I just do what I think." The ideas that come out of me are all soil methods, and I am the soil expert - the methods have to be soiled, but they are certainly practical. For the farmer, if you tell him about the three elements of fertilizer and trace elements, he can't understand it and doesn't want to know the principle. You have to tell him the practical question - why can't you produce this melon? How can it not be sweet? What causes it? To put it bluntly, it is affordable to fish dry goods. ”