We considered that the HP mentioned above cannot cover the main users, farmers. So we went to Pidu District in Sichuan province and conducted on-site investigation and interview. An enthusiastic farmer invited us to his home and made fermented pasta together with us. The trip gave us a glimpse of the target customers’ views on our project. Most farmers said that Sichuan province was not the main area of LSC, so they didn’t think it was necessary to use ABA. However, for some regions with greater temperature differences such as the northeastern provinces, our project is still of great practical value. Some farmers also mentioned that the existing main methods to prevent the late spring cold are to cover plastic film or build greenhouses, so a new and convenient prevention method is valuable for farmers everywhere in the world. Therefore, our project needs to be improved in terms of cost and ease of use in order to cope with the competition of similar products in the market. Through this visit, we found that farmers are not really aware of LSC and are not concerned about the serious agricultural losses it causes. This problem is due to two main causes: Farmers and local governments do not receive early warnings that LSC is approaching; They are unable to judge from the weather of the previous days whether LSC will occur in the coming days. Therefore, we hope to develop an LSC prediction software to help local governments and farmers know the occurrence, intensity, and start and end times of LSC early so that farmers can prevent the weather in advance.
September 25.
18:00
Arrive at Mati Village, Pengzhou, Chengdu, China.
18:00-20:00
Having dinner, interviews with farming families about the impact of the COVID-19 and the late spring cold on agriculture and related issues.
20:00-21:00
Fermenting dough with yeast for the next day's fermentation.
September 26.
8:00-9:30
Making fermented pasta (Baozi).
9:30-11:30
Going into the field to fertilize bitter gourd seedlings and interview farmers on issues related to plants’ cold tolerance.
11:30
Farewell to the farmers and return.
Fig 1. Fertilize bitter gourd seedlings
(1) Making Fermented Pasta
The fermentation methods for fermenting pasta in Sichuan mainly include yeast fermentation and sour dough fermentation. The old-flour fermentation is suitable for those who often make fermented pasta, and a small ball of fermented dough will be reserved for the next leavening after each leavening. Since our host farmers don't make fermented pasta very often, this time we use yeast to leaven the pasta, and the yeast we use is provided by Anchor Yeast.
According to the recommended usage of yeast: 12g of high active yeast is about 3kg of flour for fermentation, this time we used about 4g of yeast to ferment 1kg of flour. First of all, we activate the yeast with warm water at about 30℃, add 1kg of flour, and knead the dough until it becomes smooth. Due to the low temperatures in the area (around 15℃). a longer fermentation time is needed. Following the farmers' advice, we chose to leave it overnight.
As the fermented dough is soft and not suitable for making buns, the next morning, we add some dry flour and knead the fermented dough until it is smooth and non-sticky, and divide it into small groups of moderate size, using the curvature of the palm of the hand to press the small dough into a round dough with thicker middle and thinner periphery, add a spoonful of fried filling (we used sprout meat filling and cowpea meat filling), and slowly fold the surrounding dough until the filling is completely covered, forming folds.
Next, heat the water in the steamer to boiling, place it into the steamer compartment and add the freshly wrapped buns, spacing them slightly apart to prevent them from sticking together as they expand due to the heat, then cover the pan and serve in twenty minutes.
Fig 2-3. Dough fermentation
Fig 4-5. Cook Baozi
(2) Interviews with farming families on issues related to the late spring cold and measures to combat it
When we arrived at Horseshoe Village, we were warmly greeted by local farmer, who was then eager to answer our questions and give us some advice using his years of farming experience.
According to him, late spring cold does not affect southwest China much, and in Chengdu, the plants themselves can survive it, and the locals will build greenhouses for some crops that are sensitive to climate change or of high economic value to keep them warm, rather than choosing to use anti-freeze sprays, and because the climate is mild and catastrophic weather phenomena such as hailstorms are not common, the flowers of fruit trees or the unripe fruits rarely fall off due to hailstorms etc. Meanwhile, locals mentioned that the main cause of reduced crops in southwest China is excessive rainfall.
In northern China, for example in Xinjiang, the impact of late spring cold is greater (the farmer had farmed in Xinjiang and had relatives in the region). For vegetables, farmers in the Xinjiang region also use the method of building greenhouses, but since the local temperature is still relatively low, the greenhouses are equipped with heating devices so that the vegetables can grow in a milder climate. Also, the local wind is strong and locals will build earthen walls to prevent the greenhouse from collapsing due to the wind. For fruit trees, such as apple trees, trellises are not usually built, and when the late spring cold comes, farmers apply antifreeze to the trees, while hailstones can knock down some of their flowers. However, proper hail has a positive impact on fruit trees, as some fruit trees need to be thinned out and hail will knock down some of the flowers that are not growing well.
Finally, the farmer mentioned that the epidemic had little impact on their livelihood and production.
Fig 6-7. Discussion with farmers
Q: How has this year's epidemic affected your harvest here?
A: The impact of the epidemic has not been great, but this year it was the rain that caused flooding in many fields. It was difficult to sell vegetables because of the epidemic, but the other impacts were minor. The main impact is that the fields were flooded in July and August, and the crops rotted in the soil.
Q: Does there often occur the late spring cold, and will it affect your harvest?
A: The late spring cold is a common occurrence here, but it is not a big impact, mainly because it is warmer in the south, but in the north, such as Xinjiang, the impact of spring chill is bigger. Fruits and flowers may be knocked down and there is no harvest for the year, or the ground may freeze, making it impossible to cultivate, and seedlings may also be frozen to death. However, here there is no hail and it is warmer, so the effect is not so great.
Q: Do you spray any pesticides on your crops? Are anti-freeze chemicals applied when cold?
A: The situation here has not yet reached the level of spraying. In Xinjiang, sometimes they spray apples, dates and other crops, but the effect is not obvious. Most of the others use greenhouses to keep warm instead of spraying during the frost process.
Q: Do you use aged dough or yeast for your leavening?
A: We seldom have pasta here, only yeast is used for leavening, not old flour.
Q: Our project this year is to produce yeast that can make plants more resistant to stress and delay germination of crops to help them avoid the ravages of the late spring cold. What do you think about the future of this project in agriculture?
A: This is a very good and creative idea, and it is in the right direction, but it may not be feasible for farmers here, because the climate here is really warm and we don't need this kind of thing to make plants resistant to frost. Delaying germination, however, can be problematic, as the seeds may be attacked by various diseases and pests in the ground, and if they do not germinate on time, they will probably die in the ground. Another problem is that delayed germination can lead to delays in getting crops to market, and people tend to buy crops that are available earlier, which can have an impact on the economic benefits.
Q: In terms of stress tolerance, if we can increase the temperature tolerance of plants by 1-2 degrees, do you think it will be widely used?
A: Usually 1-2 degrees may not have a big effect, and it may take 4-5 degrees to really make a difference, but then I think it's also against the laws of nature. It may also be difficult to achieve, at least in our opinion.
Generally speaking, the impact of the late spring cold on agricultural production activities in the southwest is relatively small, although the temperature is lowered during the late spring cold, but the impact on vegetables in the region is not huge.
The impact of the late spring cold in Xinjiang and other northern regions is relatively large. For vegetables, we generally build a greenhouse with a heating device, at the same time to build earthen walls to prevent the collapse; For fruit trees, we generally do not build a greenhouse but spray antifreeze. In addition, hail also has a certain impact on fruit trees, small amounts of hail will have a positive impact on the fruit tree about flower thinning, and larger amounts will reduce the final production.
Additionally, for crops that need to be sown during the late spring cold, farmers will delay sowing the seeds appropriately, but since the sowing period is only ten days, the seeds must be sown within these ten days, and if the late spring cold continues, farmers will only face the consequences of reduced production. And suppressing the growth of the seeds during the late spring cold and allowing them to germinate when it is over is not practical either. The first is that the seeds will be decomposed by microorganisms or eaten by animals if they remain in the soil for too long, and the second is that delaying germination will inevitably delay the maturity of the crop, and if the crop does not mature during the traditional maturity period, it will no longer mature due to weather changes, resulting in a reduction in production and affecting economic efficiency. .
In farmers' experience, if a crop is made to withstand temperatures 1-2°C lower than the lowest temperature it can withstand originally, by hormonal or other means, it will not increase its yield where it is more affected by the late spring cold, whereas a large part of the plant needs to be made to withstand temperatures 4°C-5°C lower than the lowest temperature it can withstand if it is to withstand the late spring cold and thus increase its production. Also, farmers consider it unnatural and less acceptable to lower the minimum temperature that plants can resist by 4-5°C.
