Chapter 330 - 228 Food Contingency Plan (Three Updates)
A bottle of not-so-good baijiu, yet Chen Xin and the person in charge drank happily.
On one hand, today’s events were indeed worth celebrating, and on the other hand, times have changed. Even if it’s not premium liquor, it’s still liquor.
Having something to drink is already good enough; neither Chen Xin nor the person in charge had any notions of being picky.
There was both liquor and food, and with two men gathered together, once they drank to the point of warmth and excitement, they naturally started to chat.
However, Chen Xin and this person in charge didn’t talk about aimless topics; what they discussed was still related to the current situation and national livelihood issues.
"Speaking of which, the whole world is frozen now, where will the food come from? We can’t just rely on growing mushrooms and raising mice in each shelter, right? That’s not enough to eat?" This question was something Chen Xin was always very concerned and worried about.
The person in charge was, of course, aware of this matter. He took a sip of his drink and then explained to Chen Xin, "The country had considered this issue before the disaster, so in the three months before the disaster, the country had already been constructing large-scale food cultivation greenhouses and breeding zones in the mountainous areas of Lingnan and the Qiong Province to ensure food supply after the disaster."
"So the country had early plans, it seems I was worrying over nothing." Hearing this, Chen Xin felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.
Although he himself didn’t worry about food or drink, if a nationwide food crisis occurred, it would still greatly impact him.
"Plans were made, but these measures can’t guarantee feeding everyone in the country." The person in charge shook his head at Chen Xin’s words, denying, "How many survivors are there nationwide? It’s impossible to fill so many mouths just with Lingnan and Qiong Province.
According to previous statistical data, the output from Lingnan and Qiong Province only meets a third of the nation’s food consumption. Each shelter growing mushrooms and raising mice could fill about one-fifth of the gap, as for the rest... you calculate how much is still lacking."
The person in charge didn’t finish his words, just shook his head helplessly.
Hearing this, Chen Xin couldn’t help but be shocked. He hadn’t imagined there would be such a big food gap nationwide.
Even though he had guessed there might be problems with food before, Chen Xin thought it would just be a bit tight, not directly missing two-thirds.
This is not a small number. If the issue isn’t resolved, it means that at least half the nation has to starve to death!
"Is there any country response measure?" Chen Xin asked concernedly.
If the issue is this serious, then the country must have countermeasures; it’s impossible for them to really watch more than half of the nation starve to death.
"Measures do exist, the country certainly can’t stand idly by as so many people starve." The person in charge nodded and, addressing this issue, seriously toasted to Chen Xin again before continuing, "We owe you a thanks, Mr. Chen. The emergence of the Isotope Thermoelectric Battery has solved many problems! With ample energy, it’s much easier to construct new cultivation greenhouses or maintain existing ones!"
When saying this, the person in charge seemed delighted and refilled both his and Chen Xin’s drink before continuing, "Actually, the country initially had plans, but in the three months before the disaster, the nation’s main focus was on meteorite defense, so it was hard to carry out these plans on a large scale. Back then, we were all prepared just in case, after all, if the meteorite defense succeeded, there wouldn’t have been so many issues.
Therefore, the nation’s original plan was to use reserve food stocks to tide over a period right after the meteorite hit, and then in that period, large-scale cultivation greenhouses were supposed to be constructed in the Sichuan Basin and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to make up for the food production deficit.
However, due to energy issues, the implementation of this plan was not going smoothly, as most of the railway’s capacity had to be dedicated to maintaining coal supplies nationwide. Coupled with the difficulty of material transport to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, only the Sichuan Basin parts were reasonably proceeding as planned."
Listening to this, Chen Xin understood much more clearly. According to the nation’s original plan, it was evidently divided into two parts: Before the disaster, by constructing large-scale cultivation and breeding areas in the tropical areas like Lingnan and Qiong Province, taking advantage of the tropical temperatures to maintain agricultural production post-disaster.
After the meteorite impact, they would establish a second large-scale cultivation and breeding area in the Sichuan Basin and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau regions, which were shielded by mountains and less severely affected, to make up for the shortfall from Lingnan and Qiong Province.
As for each shelter growing mushrooms, raising mice, and mealworms, that’s the third-phase plan intended to compensate for the deficiencies of the first two phases.
If everything proceeded according to the country’s expectations, food issues might arise, but clearly wouldn’t be too severe, but now from what the person in charge said, the plan is evidently not progressing smoothly.
"Does this mean food will still be tight?" Chen Xin thought, more firmly developing his idea of initiating large-scale cultivation greenhouses, "If that’s the case, I have an idea to create cultivation greenhouses, which should also help address some of the national food shortages, right?"
The person in charge initially wanted to say that with the Isotope Thermoelectric Battery provided by Chen Xin, the nation’s plans could progress smoothly without significant food issues, but hearing Chen Xin also has greenhouse plans, he paused and instead asked him, "Mr. Chen, how do you plan to start?"
"Currently, it’s just a concept. I plan to drill wells to bring deep geothermal energy to the surface to create a warm zone, and then build a greenhouse to retain heat, creating an environment for growing food crops." Chen Xin briefly elaborated on his idea without going into details on how to execute it.
Even with a brief outline, the person in charge understood clearly and, after a slight contemplation, nodded, finding the concept feasible.
But although it’s feasible, it doesn’t mean it can necessarily be realized.
"But how can you bring deep geothermal energy to the surface? The country indeed has technology related to geothermal energy, and because of the apocalyptic environment, it’s been heavily researching related technology, but effectively utilizing deep geothermal energy is not easy!" The person in charge frowned, despite Chen Xin’s consistent exceptional performance, he didn’t find this problem easy to solve.
"Drill deep wells underground and use air for heat exchange to transfer the heat to the surface." Chen Xin provided his plan but also candidly told the person in charge, "But these are just my ideas, I haven’t figured out exactly how to achieve it yet."
However, while Chen Xin was humble, the person in charge’s eyes lit up, "Are you talking about Hot Dry Rock technology?"