332: Vegetable Garden

Tian Ming’s words caught everyone by surprise; they had always regarded Tian Ming as a lofty, god-like existence.

Everyone remained silent. Tian Ming smiled and said, "Alright, everyone, dig in. Don't be too reserved."

The banquet continued, but the atmosphere became much more relaxed. The entire banquet lasted a long time, not ending until late into the night.

After the banquet, Tian Ming returned to his office. The Underground City had no distinction between day and night; during the construction phase, everyone worked in three shifts.

Tian Ming lay on the sofa in his office. With just a thought, Number Three would project the base's status before his eyes.

"Report base status!"

"Energy supply: Sufficient!"

"Ammunition reserves: Sufficient!"

"Production status: Full capacity!"

"Base expansion: Normal!"

"Staple food reserves: Sufficient!"

"Food production: Average!"

Tian Ming frowned slightly and asked, "What’s going on? Is there a problem with food production?"

Number Three replied, "Master, there are no issues with synthetic starches. The main problem is the comprehensive evaluation of planting and breeding yields. The supply is not high; currently, the output can only meet about five percent of the demand."

"Plant growth takes time, so insufficient yield is understandable," Tian Ming said.

Number Three categorized the distribution areas of the base’s underground and surface planting gardens, then reported, "The vegetable park has entered a positive cycle. The highest per capita availability for vegetables is 5 grams, meat is 0.23 grams, and fruit is 0.01 grams."

"Are you referring to daily or annual availability?"

"Daily availability!"

Tian Ming calculated it. Basically, each person gets one vegetable leaf per day. Meat and fruit were out of the question. The reality was that ninety percent of the personnel could not eat fresh vegetables or fruits apart from their staple food.

Tian Ming sat up. Now that he had acquired Xin Xin's ability, it was a good time to test if he could increase the yield in the vegetable park. Improving everyone's diet could also enhance the cohesion of the base personnel.

He decided to act immediately. Tian Ming was too lazy to rest anymore; he couldn't sleep anyway.

......

The planting areas of the Underground City were distributed throughout the city, mostly using hydroponics with artificial light for cultivation. This was a high-density artificial planting method.

Although the area of each planting zone was not large, they all adopted a vertical farming approach. Numerous fans forcibly circulated air throughout the Underground City. The entire planting area was equipped with orbital robots, achieving automated management, harvesting, and picking.

Such planting areas did not require many people. The crops planted were mostly vegetables that could be harvested in a short period. The vegetable area was equipped with three to five managers and one management office, responsible for supervision, equipment maintenance, and monitoring the environment of the entire planting area.

Overall, it was very advanced, but it could not achieve complete autonomy. As soon as Tian Ming entered, he saw large racks of vegetables. Vegetables at different growth stages were categorized on the same rack, forming a complete planting production line from seedling cultivation, small seedlings, growth stage, to mature area, and then to the picking area.

As soon as Tian Ming appeared, an old man walked over.

"Didn't you see the sign? No entry for idlers. Are you illiterate or something?" the old man grumbled.

As the old man approached, he suddenly realized that the person who came was the base's leader, and his face became a little awkward.

"Boss Lu, I, I didn't know it was you coming to inspect! I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the old man quickly apologized.

The lighting in the planting room was not white light, but rather blue-violet light. The illumination in the entire planting room was quite peculiar, and under such lighting conditions, it was understandable that he didn't recognize Tian Ming immediately.

Tian Ming didn't mind at all. He waved his hand and said, "I just came to take a look. Are you the manager of this planting room?"

The old man nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, I am the director of this No. 5 Planting Park. My name is Li Xian. I used to do planting at Changyan Base, and now I'm here, still doing my old job."

Tian Ming smiled slightly and said, "Show me around and give me an introduction."

Li Xian was not foolish. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Boss Lu, whatever you want to know, I can’t speak for other things, but when it comes to growing vegetables, I can answer anything you ask."

Li Xian spoke as he led Tian Ming on a tour.

The planting garden wasn't particularly interesting; it was just rows of neatly arranged vegetable racks. The vegetables on each rack were arranged according to their growth cycle. Different vegetables, according to their different growth stages, were categorized onto the same rack.

Tian Ming walked and observed, asking, "Does staying under this light source for a long time make your eyes uncomfortable?"

Li Xian smiled and said, "Boss Lu, when it comes to light sources, there's a lot of knowledge involved. Artificial light sources are all red or blue-violet spectrum colors. The wavelengths of these two lights are what plants need most for growth. Red light can promote flower bud differentiation and flowering, while blue light can promote leaf growth and increase plant height. We adjust the proportion of light sources according to the needs of different plant growth stages."

Tian Ming nodded and asked again, "How is the yield of vegetables when planted in this way?"

Li Xian replied proudly, "Boss Lu, by using vertical farming, the yield of vegetables has increased by about six times compared to traditional planting methods, and the quality is also very good. Our prepared water-soluble fertilizers are automatically detected, there are no pests or diseases, and even bacteria are strictly controlled. This park is a lettuce park, and it takes about 30 days from sowing to harvest. Now they are harvested in batches, and basically, this one park can produce 300 tons of vegetables every day."

The two arrived at the seedling area, and Tian Ming placed his palm on a seedling. With just a slight thought, the seedling grew wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Li Xian had never seen such a scene before, and he was both surprised and delighted.

"Boss Lu, can you control plant growth?"

Tian Ming nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I came here to see if I could make some modifications to shorten the growth cycle of vegetables. Ninety percent of the two million people in our base can't eat fresh vegetables."

Li Xian listened to Tian Ming's words, nodded slightly, and said, "Boss Lu, the facilities and equipment in this planting park are designed according to the existing growth cycle. Even if Boss Lu has the ability to shorten the crop's growth cycle, the subsequent supporting facilities would be difficult to implement."

Tian Ming asked, somewhat puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"

"Fresh vegetables are not easy to store, and land is at a premium in the Underground City. Even if they are consumed daily, storage and transportation must keep up. Currently, a large amount of vegetables are processed into freeze-dried vegetables in cooperation with You Suowei. Moreover, this is not an urgent matter; the Comprehensive Management Department has approved it for later!"