Scholars in the courtyard.

Chapter 2630 Fungal Infection
Yang Xiaotao was sitting aside. He had already thought about these things when he came. After all, given the nature of the alliance, they would definitely turn the tables and shift the losses.

It’s not surprising to hear Gao Yufeng say this now.

Even the people present did not react much after hearing this.

After all, the more you experience, the more you get used to it.

After Gao Yufeng introduced the situation, the old dean spoke up, "The situation is urgent. We must give a reasonable and convincing reason."

“And it cannot harm one’s own interests.”

As the old dean Zheng Zhazhong said this, Mr. Tao also spoke up, "I believe our comrades will not do anything to destroy peace."

"But we have to give each other an explanation."

The uncle also put out his cigarette, his tone solemn.

"The other party is very likely to turn the tables. This matter must be treated with caution and the incident must be finalized to not give the other party a chance to lose their temper."

After the three of them finished speaking, the crowd fell silent again, and many people looked at Yang Xiaotao.

Seeing this, the old dean also looked over and asked, "Xiao Tao, what do you think?"

Hearing this, Yang Xiaotao put down the photo in his hand, looked around, and then said, "If the corn in this photo is real, then the alliance may lose more than half of its production this year, and some places may even get nothing."

Everyone in the meeting room moved their buttocks slightly, their faces solemn.

"No harvest? That would be a serious consequence."

My uncle spoke slowly, he didn't explain, but it gave people the feeling that something big was about to happen.

Yang Xiaotao also thought of this. It was nothing more than extortion.

Don't think that this is just a matter of people doing dirty things to each other. In fact, there are many dirty things happening between countries.

"Director Gao, what do you think caused this situation?"

Mr. Tao took over the topic and asked.

Gao Yufeng hurriedly picked up a document and said, "Commander, this is some information we asked someone to collect immediately after receiving the mission."

"Among them, during the pollination period, strong winds of level 6 or above occurred three times in the climate survey of the other black soil."

"In this case, something went wrong during the pollination process."

"It may even cause pollination to fail."

"Pollination failed?"

Mr. Tao asked curiously.

Dean Deng nodded, then picked up the cup on the table and took a sip of water, and began to explain, "To put it simply, this seed pollination is when the pollen falls and is caught by the female below, completing the fertilization process."

"Each kernel of corn has a stamen on the outside, so the condition of a corn cob can be judged by the number and density of stamens."

"So, if you stop the pollen from falling, you stop the corn from growing."

"There are many factors that affect this, one of which is strong winds. If there are strong winds during the pollination period, it will cause a reduction in yield."

"One is the resistance of the seeds. There is a problem with the seeds themselves and they cannot complete the fertilization process."

"It now appears likely that this high wind situation caused a loss of seed pollination."

Dean Deng made an analysis and everyone present nodded secretly.

Even Gao Yufeng nodded in agreement.

This is also the result they gave after analysis.

After hearing this, the uncle did not rush to agree. Instead, he looked at Yang Xiaotao, who was looking at the photo after he finished speaking.

If you ask who knows the most about agricultural knowledge, there may be hundreds of answers from people present, and some may even think that they are not bad.

But if you ask who knows about the high-yield corn 'Yangcun No. 1', everyone has only one answer.

Yang Xiaotao.

As the creator of Yangcun No. 1 and an agricultural master himself, he must be familiar with the characteristics of Yangcun No. 1.

When the uncle looked over, everyone stopped talking and turned their eyes to Yang Xiaotao.

The room suddenly became quiet, but Yang Xiaotao did not rush to speak. Instead, he looked carefully for a while before putting down the photo in his hand.

Then he placed a few others on the table and looked at them.

When everyone saw this, they didn't dare to disturb him and waited patiently.

After a while, Yang Xiaotao raised his head with a determined look. When Uncle Tao and others saw this look, they suddenly felt relieved.

It's like having a backbone.

Then Yang Xiaotao said, "Strong wind may be one of them."

"But it won't cause this much damage."

"And now that we have this information, the agricultural department of the alliance will definitely know about it and will not let it go. They will carry out remedial vaccinations."

After Yang Xiaotao finished speaking, Gao Yufeng and others opened their mouths, but had no reason to refute.

After all, places in the country would do the same if they encountered such a situation.

To put it bluntly, this reason is too far-fetched.

Just when everyone was disappointed, Yang Xiaotao said again, "I looked at these photos. The shape is a little different from that of our Yangcun No. 1, especially the stems and leaves. There are rots in many places. I suspect that the corn has been diseased, probably infected by fungi."

Yang Xiaotao looked at the corn stems and leaves in the photo. They looked a bit rotten, but the rest of the parts were healthy.

This situation is very similar to a pathogenic bacterial infection.

"Fungal infection?"

Everyone was stunned, feeling that the word was so far away.

"Yes, it's a fungal infection."

Yang Xiaotao said in a positive tone, "Don't think that only insects are diseases. Bacterial and fungal diseases are also diseases."

When the words fell, everyone felt surprised.

But I don’t know how to say it.

Because they have no research in this area.

Dean Deng raised his eyebrows and quickly picked up the photo on the table.

Gao Yufeng and others also came over to take a look, but after watching it, they still couldn't make up their minds.

Seeing the look on their faces, the uncle at the side immediately asked Yang Xiaotao, "Are you sure this is a bacterial infection?"

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "At least 60% sure."

"Sixty percent? That's a lot."

As he spoke, the uncle looked at Dean Deng and said, "What do you think, Mr. Bo?"

Dean Deng looked embarrassed after hearing this. This was the first time he had encountered such a thing, and he had no idea what these fungi were.

Gao Yufeng looked at the photo thoughtfully, then said uncertainly, "I remember hearing about this disease somewhere."

When everyone saw this, they looked over.

Gao Yufeng smiled bitterly, "I, I just heard about it and had some impression, but I didn't pay much attention to it."

"But this should be an infectious disease of corn."

After getting the confirmation, the depression in the room suddenly disappeared, as if they had found the crux of the problem, and everyone's face was no longer tangled. But Yang Xiaotao still shook his head. Tao Lao, who had been paying attention to Yang Xiaotao, hurriedly asked, "Xiao Yang, why are you shaking your head?"

Everyone looked over again.

Yang Xiaotao said in a serious tone, "Even if we have confirmed that it is a fungal infection or an infectious disease that caused the reduction in production."

"What about the evidence?"

“Where did this fungus come from?”

“How is it transmitted?”

"Can you explain it clearly?"

After hearing Yang Xiaotao's repeated questions, everyone was speechless.

After all, this is just their guess, and the other party doesn't admit it at all.

The uncle frowned and asked again, "Mr. Bo, if this is a bacterial infection, are there any such cases internationally?"

Dean Deng shook his head. "Besides, without evidence, the other party won't admit it."

Uncle frowned, picked up a cigarette from the table and prepared to light it.

But thinking of the doctor's instructions, I just put the cigarette in my mouth.

Everyone also looked at Yang Xiaotao.

After pondering for a moment, Yang Xiaotao said again, "Fungal infection can occur in many ways. As long as there is an infection source, air, rainwater, or even farm tools can spread it."

"In serious cases, there will be problems with the seeds."

As soon as the words fell, the room fell into dead silence.

Uncle Tao, Dean Lao and the other two's faces suddenly changed, and the others also frowned, feeling uneasy.

Just when Gao Yufeng was about to speak to ease the atmosphere, Yang Xiaotao spoke again, "But this batch of seeds we have also planted in China. If there is really a problem, it will also be exposed in our country."

"That's right, we use it ourselves, but we haven't reported it anywhere so far."

Mr. Tao leaned forward with his hands on the table and spoke in an affirmative tone.

"Well, it depends on how the alliance grows it."

Yang Xiaotao shook his head. “I think everyone might be overthinking it. What the alliance did was their fault.”

"We just need to sever our ties."

The uncle frowned, and Old Tao opened his mouth to refute, but when he thought about it carefully, isn't that the case?

Why should it be our fault if something goes wrong?

Put the blame on others?

Then produce the evidence.

If you can’t produce it, then we will produce the evidence.

Thinking about it this way, I actually felt that it was really the case.

Yang Xiaotao continued, "What we need to do now is to confirm that this is a disease, and then make sure that there is no problem with our seeds."

"As long as these two are done, what else do we have to fear?"

"At worst, we can just not sell them seeds. We..."

At this point, the uncle coughed lightly to interrupt Yang Xiaotao's next words, "Since Xiaotao proposed two directions, let's follow this one first."

Everyone nodded immediately after hearing this, and Mr. Tao added, "Not only these two directions, but investigations in other directions should also be carried out simultaneously."

Then he looked at Dean Deng and said, "Your Academy of Agricultural Sciences should send people to various grain-producing areas to see if there are similar situations."

Upon hearing this, Dean Deng asked, "How do we find this?"

"The corn is almost ready to be harvested, and in some places it has already been harvested."

"Besides, this is already the result, how do we find it?"

But as soon as he finished speaking, the uncle said unhappily, "I haven't even looked for it, how do you know you can't find it?"

"I suggest that an investigation team be set up immediately."

"Not only should we investigate this domestically, but we should also investigate it in a high-profile manner. We should send a delegation to the alliance to investigate, and make the matter a big deal. We should make it a big fuss so that the whole world will know about it. It is best to investigate it under a magnifying glass."

“This is the only way to show our attitude.”

"At the same time, we also want to let the alliance know that we are not afraid of investigations. If they want to play tricks and put the blame on us, we will not accompany them."

The uncle said in a sonorous voice, took out a match and lit it with a hiss, then shook his wrist to put out the flame, then looked at Yang Xiaotao, then turned to the crowd, "Comrade Xiao Yang is right."

"If we take a passive approach and avoid investigation, it would be like telling everyone in the world that there is something wrong with our seeds."

"This is not advisable!"

"Only by actively investigating and making our position clear can we restore our image!"

After thinking for a moment, Mr. Tao gritted his teeth and nodded.

"In this case, we will organize experts to go to the alliance and investigate this matter thoroughly."

Uncle nodded seriously.

Yang Xiaotao at the side said, "Mr. Tao, Chief, can you ask them to hand over some corn samples, preferably whole plants, and some soil as well?"

“We need to study these samples.”

"Of course, we must take precautions and not let the wolf into the house."

The uncle looked at Yang Xiaotao's eager expression and then nodded.

"no problem."

The meeting ended and everyone left one after another to go about their own business.

The uncle and Yang Xiaotao walked to the door, then stopped and said, "You need to pay attention to this matter and find out the reason for the reduction in production."

"Otherwise, it will be a huge hidden danger for us!"

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "Don't worry, uncle. As long as it's not our problem, everything will be fine!"

The uncle nodded, then got in the car and left.

Yang Xiaotao turned around and looked at Gao Yufeng with a serious expression, "Old Gao, the seeds sent to the alliance are all from the Northwest Farm, right?"

Gao Yufeng nodded. "More than 70% of the high-quality seeds in the northwest are exported, and most of them are sold to the alliance."

"The remaining 10% was used as reserve seeds, and the other 20% was sent to the Northeast."

"No problem in the Northeast?"

Gao Yufeng shook his head. "At least there is no problem now. We will send someone to check it out later."

"The corn harvest there is late, and there is still some in November."

Yang Xiaotao nodded, but still worried, "I'll call the Northwest and ask about the breeding status of the improved varieties. We can't let anything go wrong."

"Okay, I'll hit you later."

The two talked and walked back together.

This matter is of great importance. Yang Xiaotao is, after all, a member of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and has the obligation to stay here.