168: Chapter 168 Shennong Base! A Fully Enclosed Natural Ecosystem Simulation System!

Seeing Lin Mo and the others enter,

Elder Yuan said with a look of joy, "Chief Designer Lin, you're finally here!"

Lin Mo smiled and said, "Elder Yuan, sorry to keep you waiting!"

The doctoral students had just breathed a sigh of relief,

when Elder Yuan unexpectedly turned his head back.

"Look at you all, you're a few years older than Chief Designer Lin!"

"Yet you blockheads can't even understand Chief Designer Lin's mature technology!"

"I really don't know what to say to you!"

"The Shennong Project is about to start. How can you be like this?..."

"..."

The doctoral students didn't dare to make a sound.

Lin Mo, watching the scene from the side, couldn't help but laugh.

He had heard before

that Elder Yuan was very strict with his doctoral students,

and now he was seeing it for himself.

"Elder Yuan, let's talk as we walk!"

Lin Mo spoke up to break the tension.

"I'll take you to the Shennong Project R&D base first!"

...

The Shennong Project R&D base

was located at the southeast corner of the Genetic Engineering Research Sub-center building cluster.

Its area was more than ten times larger than other R&D bases,

covering a full 1,000 mu (93 football fields).

It would likely be expanded several times in the future depending on the project's progress.

Elder Yuan took his research team of over twenty members

and boarded a shuttle bus with Lin Mo

to conduct their first tour of the Shennong Base.

Along the way, Elder Yuan was full of praise for the two technical guides on plant genetic engineering, "Herbaceous" and "Woody."

"Incredible!"

"To think that pollen abortion genes actually appear in pairs; Indica rice inherits them, while Japonica rice does not!"

"No wonder there has always been reproductive isolation between Indica and Japonica rice!"

Lin Mo and Elder Yuan sat together in the second row of the shuttle bus.

Elder Yuan looked out at the vast Shennong Base

and said with a face full of excitement.

"Following the research direction described in the Herbaceous guide, as long as we use genetic engineering methods like molecular marker-assisted selection to breed plants with pollen abortion genes!"

"We can completely solve the global challenge of pollen sterility in Indica-Japonica hybrids!"

"The new Indica-Japonica subspecies hybrid Super Rice is expected to increase yields by more than 30% compared to existing hybrid rice!"

"Furthermore, we can continue to select and breed for excellence!"

"High-yield, super-high-yield, ultra-super-high-yield!..."

"Yields of two thousand or three thousand kilograms per mu are no longer a dream!"

"It's unimaginable, truly unimaginable!"

Elder Yuan became more excited as he spoke,

but he was also filled with mixed emotions.

If he had received these two technical guides on plant genetic engineering earlier,

his dream of enjoying the shade under the rice stalks

would have been realized decades ago!

"Once the Super Rice experimental fields are harvested, I'll have to sleep in the fields for ten days or half a month!"

Lin Mo pointed to the large expanse of yellow earth in the distance and said with a smile,

"Elder Yuan, you are now the primary person in charge of the Shennong Project; don't limit your vision to just Super Rice!"

"It's not just cereal crops; legumes and tuber crops are also very important!"

"See those areas? I've already planned them out for you!"

"In addition to Super Rice, our main food product targets include Super Soybeans and Super Corn!"

Elder Yuan nodded repeatedly.

"Makes sense! That makes perfect sense!"

"Plant protein and vegetable oil are essential for the daily lives of the common people!"

"Since the conditions are ripe, they must be prioritized!"

At this point,

Elder Yuan turned around and scolded the doctoral students in the back row.

"Look at you all, then look at Chief Designer Lin!"

"You're all young, so why is there such a huge gap!"

"Oh my! I really don't know what to say about you..."

The doctoral students had bitter expressions on their faces.

Dear Director Yuan,

the difference between people is sometimes greater than the difference between humans and dogs.

Even if you want to compare,

please don't compare us to an ultimate freak!

"Chief Designer Lin, the technical conditions are mature, but I want to mention a few concerns."

After a few more words, Elder Yuan changed the subject.

"This plain area in Yan Province has a great geographical location and excellent conditions in all aspects,"

"the only downside is the climate!"

"For those of us involved in plant research, climate is a critical factor."

"Previously, most of our ecological bases and experimental fields were located in Ya Province and Luo Province, primarily due to climate considerations."

"The north is just too cold!"

As soon as he said this,

the doctoral students in the back seat all nodded.

Yesterday, they had boarded a plane in the spring-like sunshine of Ya Province,

and as soon as the plane landed, they were blindsided by the sudden attack of a cold northern night.

On the airport shuttle bus, they were all shivering like human sieves from the cold.

It wasn't until they got their suitcases and put on down jackets that the chill was slightly alleviated.

It was already December.

Compared to the pleasant 25 to 30 degrees Celsius typical of Ya Province,

Yan Province was already down to 5 to 8 degrees at night,

which was truly unsuitable for plant research.

Hearing this,

Lin Mo simply smiled and shook his head: "Elder Yuan, you're worrying too much!"

"The issue of climate won't have any impact at all."

Elder Yuan looked at Lin Mo in surprise.

"Chief Designer Lin, what do you mean by that?"

Lin Mo explained with a smile.

"At the Lin Mo Research Center, all conditions can be created!"

"Climate, put simply, consists of factors like temperature, humidity, and rainfall."

"As long as we build a Fully Enclosed Natural Ecological Simulation System within the Shennong Base,"

"and maintain 24-hour control over these ecological variables, the climate problem will naturally be solved."

As Lin Mo finished speaking,

Elder Yuan pondered for a long while

and finally had a realization.

"You mean... greenhouses?"

Lin Mo was slightly speechless: "You could understand it that way, I suppose."

"How many will be built?"

"How many what?"

"I mean, how many greenhouses are going to be built."

Lin Mo burst out laughing.

"Elder Yuan, my point is that the entire area of the Shennong Base will have a Fully Enclosed Natural Ecological Simulation System built over it!"

???

Everyone was stunned by these words.

They all looked around,

gazing at the vast yellow earth surrounding them.

All of these thousand-plus mu of land... converted into greenhouses?

What on earth?

"That's not right!"

Elder Yuan frowned: "Greenhouses that meet laboratory standards consume too much electricity!"

"Chief Designer Lin, do you realize?"

"An electrified glass greenhouse covering 10 mu requires at least 1,000 kWh of electricity per day just for heat pump heating!"

"Not to mention all the other energy requirements!"

"For an area of over a thousand mu, the power consumption would be an astronomical figure!"

Elder Yuan advised: "Chief Designer Lin, if you ask me,"

"it would be great if we could build three to five glass greenhouse experimental fields of 10 mu each!"

"The large-scale cultivation base should still be moved to the south."

Elder Yuan's words

were met with unanimous agreement from everyone.

It wasn't just a matter of power consumption;

building glass greenhouses that met laboratory requirements

was nothing like building ordinary vegetable greenhouses for production.

The requirements for all conditions were extremely high,

and the project budget simply wouldn't be able to support it!

On the shuttle bus,

after hearing Elder Yuan's words,

Lin Mo just smiled,

and then pointed to the east.

"Elder Yuan, look over there."

Following the direction Lin Mo was pointing,

Elder Yuan looked into the distance

and could vaguely see a cluster of magnificent buildings.

"What is that place?"

Lin Mo grinned.

"A nuclear fusion power plant!"

"The ultra-giant 'Jinwu' Nuclear Power Plant, specifically designed to meet the electricity needs of the Lin Mo Research Center!"

"It uses cubic stacking and is designed with a total of 256 fusion reactor units!"

"Although only 2 units are currently in operation,"

"their power generation capacity is already equivalent to two Three Gorges Dams!"

"The daily power generation is one billion kWh!"

...

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