Concocting Plans, Meticulous Cultivation

Farming is a job that sounds simple but is actually difficult to do.

This feeling of helplessness is especially strong when faced with a large area of land, if you don't have a clear idea of what to do or how to proceed.

Sitting on the edge of the field, feeling the intense sunlight overhead, Su Mo took out the Psionic Water from his Storage Space and took a big gulp.

Somo handed the remaining water bottle to Moore, who was sitting next to him with an expectant look on his face. After watching Moore happily drink it all in one gulp, Su Mo showed a friendly (or perhaps wicked) smile.

"Moore, look how good your master is to you!"

"Great! Moore is eating and drinking well, and is very happy!" Almost instantly, upon hearing Su Mo's words, Moore patted his chest, stood up, and cried out loudly.

Seeing this, Oreo, who was basking in the warmth nearby, rolled its eyes dismissively.

What a sycophantic coward!

But before Oreo could even form that sentence in his mind, upon hearing Su Mo's next words, Oreo immediately barked with delight.

"Since we're eating so well, of course we should make the most of Lei Xiong's skills. Here's a hoe for this black soil, you come and turn it over for us one by one!"

Somo generously handed the hoe to Moore, and seeing Moore's bewildered expression, Su Mo reached out and patted Moore's furry back.

"Go quickly, if you do a good job you'll get extra food tonight!"

Hearing about the extra meal, Moore finally snapped out of his daze, excitedly grabbed a hoe, and got to work.

Turning the soil is a simple task that only requires physical strength and power. For the Thunder Bear clan, as long as they treat the Black Soil as an enemy on the road to delicious food, they will naturally be full of energy when they do it.

Seeing how fast Moore was moving, Su Mo nodded in satisfaction and began to sort out the seeds, meticulously arranging the planting plan.

Spring Wheat is highly regional; it is not suitable for Spring Wheat in all places. The yield varies greatly depending on the variety and the region. A yield of around 1,000 jin per mu is only achievable in certain areas of China.

In the wasteland, the abundant snowfall everywhere created an ideal environment for Spring Wheat to grow.

For his first planting, Su Mo decided to plant only one jin (approximately 500 grams) within a fixed area to study and explore the relationship between rank and input.

While Moore was still diligently turning over the soil behind him, he looked at the Black Soil that had already been cleared.

Finding the most fertile-looking piece of land, Su Mo bent down and began to work patiently.

Farming is not included in the Training Ground provided by the system.

Therefore, Su Mo can only try to find his own way by drawing on the experience summarized by everyone in the World Channel.

"The moisture content during seed treatment should not be too high, otherwise it will affect the smooth sowing process and reduce the amount of seed used per acre."

"The seeds must be mixed thoroughly, ensuring that every grain of wheat is moistened to prevent excessive germination."

"After the seed treatment, the wheat needs to be slightly dried in the sun."

Sitting on the ground, Su Mo separated a pound of disaster-resistant wheat seeds on the ground. He then took out some Psionic Water and a small basin to ensure that every seed on the ground could fully absorb the nutrients brought by the Psionic Water.

The sun in the wasteland was scorching. As soon as the Psionic Water began to evaporate slightly, Su Mo quickly put all the seeds into the pot and began the Step Two.

Before sowing, meticulous tillage is necessary. This not only enhances soil fertility but also breaks up the plow pan, achieving the standards of deep, fine, thorough, level, firm, and well-watered soil.

This means that the tillage layer should be deep, and after tilling, it should be harrowed finely, thoroughly, leveled, and compacted to achieve a loose topsoil and a firm bottom, while retaining water and moisture.

This point seems easy to explain based on experience, but Su Mo himself found it extremely difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, this thing doesn't require much technical skill, and after spending a little more time, we got to the final step.

As the staple food for one-third of the world's population, wheat is not difficult to plant. With a little care, controlling the amount of seeds sown and the spacing between two ears of wheat can ensure its health.

"Phew, the seed quality probably won't be high this time. I've been studying guides while farming, and I haven't even put in a tenth of my effort. The buffs aren't even enough to improve the seed quality."

Standing on the edge of the field, looking down at the leveled ground, Su Mo reluctantly pulled out a one-day coin from his Storage Space.

With a flick of the fingertip, the coin fell into the ground in front of him. With a slow, trembling burst, the coin began to disappear and merge into the ground beneath him.

At the same time, the land seemed to be affected by some magical force, and its color began to change rapidly.

"The way Time Currency works is quite unique, but I wonder how effective it will be!"

Seeing that the Game Panel could not recognize the Black Soil in front of him, Su Mo had a thought, and the System Panel automatically expanded and began to scan the attributes of the land in front of him.

The slow scan continued from one end of the field to the other, and when it returned, it brought back a surprisingly good attribute panel.

Black Soil - crop planting area - Spring Wheat

[Grower]: Su Mo [Planting Area]: 32㎡

[Plant Category]: Disaster Resistance Star No. 2

[Crop Grade]: Excellent [Crop Attributes]: Resistant to temperatures as low as -20°C, resistant to temperatures as high as 40°C, resistant to pests below 5°C, resistant to Plant Epidemic below level 8, immune to nutrient competition from other plants, immune to... [Estimated Yield]: 1225 kg (subject to weather and other human factors, not a final value) [Estimated Maturity Time]: 82.3 days (subject to soil, fertilizer, weather, and other factors, not a final value) [Evaluation]: Not terrible, just so-so

"Yay!"

"I can't believe I managed to grow such high-quality crops despite the heavy load. I, Su Mo, am truly a farming genius!"

Surprised by the word "Excellent" on the panel, Su Mo completely ignored the system's evaluation! Who has ever seen a crop of excellent quality grow on the first try? Of course, the addition of Psionic Water might be a factor, but it's definitely not the main one.

The combination of favorable conditions— the Black Soil, the choice of seed type, the weather, the excavator tilling the land once, and the hoeing by the Moore —ensures that even a beginner like Su Mo can grow high-quality crops.

"Hmm, crops of excellent quality have a 200x bonus, which means that the crops can go straight from planting to harvest in just over ten hours."

"Without tools, we can only harvest by hand. It takes about 5 hours to harvest one acre. Including rest time, if one person is responsible for two acres, they have to work for 11 hours straight without sleep."

"Doing this will definitely leave you exhausted the next day, and you'll probably only be able to get one and a half rounds out in the next two days, and that's under the best-case scenario..."

Leaning on his Iron Shovel, standing on the hilltop, Su Mo pondered quietly, beginning to calculate the specific yield of superior-level crops under the added bonus.

Including the time for harvesting and tilling, if we work hard for three days, and with the help of the King Kong, we should be able to complete two rounds of harvesting.

If we take a midpoint of 1,000 jin from 200 mu of land, the tax grain collected would be around 280,000 jin.

If the tax grain were to be converted into flour, there would be so many kilograms of pure wheat that Su Mo alone could never finish processing it all, even if he worked for ages.

We either need to find a way to build an automated production line, or we need to allocate 10% to 20% of our food supplies to continue hiring refugees from the Candlelight Shelter to help process the crops.

With the wheat yield around 75%, 420,000 jin of Spring Wheat, after being converted into flour, only yielded 84 tons! Given the current appetite of wasteland humans, about 1.5 jin of flour per day should be a normal intake. If they do more work, this amount would need to be increased to 2 jin.

Everything was calculated based on the worst-case scenario, and after some quick calculations, Su Mo obtained the final value.

If the three-day Welfare Disaster had focused all its attention on Spring Wheat, it could have produced enough flour to feed 240 people for a year.

Conversely, if the number of people in the shelter remains around 10-15, it can last for eight to ten years.

This number sounds outrageous, but upon closer examination, Su Mo immediately ruled it out!

"Not enough! Even if we don't need to expand the shelters in the future, this amount of flour is definitely not enough!"

"In the future, food will definitely remain the primary hard currency. Whether it's used to exchange for other goods or carried on long journeys, food will never depreciate in value."

"Besides, I need to set aside enough time to grow other things, otherwise, relying solely on flour won't last a year. Everyone will lack various vitamins and die instantly!"

Rejecting the idea of planting superior crops outright, Su Mo looked at the vegetable garden below and simply sat down to slowly recover his mental energy.

The opportunity only comes once, so the types of crops you choose to plant must be nutritious, easy to store, and have a high yield.

Therefore, among all the crops, according to Su Mo's original plan.

It consists of four crops in total.

Spring Wheat, a champion against famine with a yield of over a thousand catties per mu.

Cabbage, a formidable force rich in carotene, Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin C, dietary fiber, and trace elements such as protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, and iron.

Soybeans are a high-quality source of plant protein and are very easy to store; they can last for years without spoiling.

Carrots, known as "little ginseng," are a top-tier pioneer in protecting human organs and tissues and preventing various diseases.

In addition to these four types, another round of cotton needs to be planted to make guncotton, which is Smokeless Gunpowder gunpowder, and stored for later mass production of artillery shells.

If there were enough time, Su Mo would even like to try growing Apple Tree seeds, which take about three years to mature, to see if they could produce fruit.

Finally, in the Black Soil, Su Mo planned to purchase a large quantity of medicinal herbs to plant, striving to ensure that the refuge had a large and abundant reserve of resources.

With so many crops waiting to be planted, we certainly can't afford to neglect one or the other. Choosing the more convenient, superior grade would mean wasting a crucial opportunity.

"All crops must be upgraded to excellent quality, with a flow rate difference of 400 times, to ensure my plan proceeds as scheduled!"

With the plan finalized, Su Mo now has a clear direction regarding crop quality.

Sitting on the edge of the field, Su Mo began to slowly reflect on the steps he had taken in planting the land and the points he had missed. At the same time, he began to simulate in his mind how to do each step best.

Under intense concentration, Su Mo suddenly opened his eyes as the sun began to set in the west. He grabbed the Iron Shovel in his hand, picked up the bag of High-Yield Wheat grain beside him, and his gaze became extremely focused.

At the same time, the Thought Ring on his finger began to emit a faint light, which made Su Mo's attention even more focused!