Jiang Xuan stood in the middle of the vegetable field. All he could see was the scene of insects eating the crops, and all kinds of "rustling" sounds could be heard in his ears.
If he can't figure out a way, all the crops in this large area will be eaten up by insects. Even if they plant tuber plants, the autumn harvest yield will be appallingly low.
"Chief, don't be anxious. Think carefully. Since the witch in the dream taught you planting, he must have taught you how to deal with this situation."
When Jiang Xuan was upset, a pair of warm hands placed on his shoulders, and his gentle voice eased his nervousness.
That’s the red peony root coming.
Jiang Xuan nodded, took a deep breath, and began to recall various experiences in controlling insect disasters in his previous life.
The first is manual culling. This method is the simplest, but also the least efficient. With the few manpower of the Vine Tribe, the crops will be gone before these pests are killed.
The second is drug treatment, which is the fastest and most effective method of treatment. However, the rattan tribe does not have insecticides, so this method is simply not feasible.
Then there is the legendary raising ducks to eat insects.
At present, apart from fish farming, the Teng tribe does not carry out any other breeding industry at all, not even a duck.
This method also doesn’t work.
This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work either, what should I do?
Everyone is waiting for the leader to come up with an idea to deal with these pests, but Jiang Xuan has no idea. This feeling is really uncomfortable.
"You guys catch the bugs first, and I'll think of a solution later."
After Jiang Xuan said this, he walked away depressedly, hoping that a walk and a look would bring him new ideas.
Gan Song and others looked at each other, and everyone could tell that the leader seemed to be at his wits end.
Gan Song gritted his teeth and said: "Catch bugs!"
Then, he picked up a bamboo tube, squatted on the ground and quickly caught bugs. He would squeeze the head of each bug and throw it into the bamboo tube so that he could take it back and roast it and eat it.
The tourists also took action again, including Chi Shao and others, who also joined the ranks of catching insects.
While Chi Shao was catching insects, she glanced at Jiang Xuan from time to time, with a very worried look on her face.
They had opened up these cultivated lands bit by bit, and Chi Shao knew very well how much effort Jiang Xuan had put into farming.
If the insect plague cannot be solved, it will be useless no matter how many fields are opened and crops are planted; they will only become food for the insects.
They are very good at dealing with wild beasts, but the tribesmen have no experience at all in dealing with such a large-scale insect plague.
Red peony root can only be anxious and cannot be of any help.
Jiang Xuan walked slowly in the fields, constantly thinking about various ways to control insect pests in his mind. However, he had not personally experienced insect pests and lacked experience in this area.
Are the crops that you have worked so hard to grow really in vain?
Jiang Xuan was very unwilling. He walked and reached the pond.
"Whoosh!"
In the water beside the pond, a large frog suddenly opened its mouth, and a tongue shot out like lightning, sticking a flying insect from the air, and then slowly swallowed it into its belly.
Jiang Xuan's eyes lit up. It would be great if a large number of frogs could be put into the fields. They could eat a lot of bugs.
Unfortunately, it is obviously unrealistic to catch frogs temporarily. We can only rely on nearby frogs to consciously enter the fields to catch insects.
Jiang Xuan's eyes dimmed again. Relying on so many frogs and bugs nearby would be a drop in the bucket.
Jiang Xuan had a splitting headache thinking about it and walked back to the bamboo house without realizing it.
He sat by the fire pit, looking at the dancing flames, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind.
"Fire, the phototaxis of insects!"
As the saying goes, one thought can lead to hundreds of thoughts. When Jiang Xuan saw the fire, he naturally thought of how to deal with those damn pests.
Most of the pests in the fields of the Vine Tribe are flying insects with wings that fly from other places.
Because of this, when they appear suddenly, they can cause serious damage to crops in the field.
Because the Vine tribe was unprepared, they never expected that a large number of insects would suddenly invade.
These winged flying insects are huge in number, reproduce extremely quickly, and are extremely destructive to crops, which is very scary.
But they are not without weaknesses.
Their weakness is that, like most flying insects, they are phototactic at night.
Every night is when their activities are most rampant and their destructive power is strongest.
They rely on moonlight and weak starlight to determine the direction of flight.
At this time, if a large bonfire appears, their flight direction will be disrupted, and they will eventually plunge into the fire and be burned to ashes.
Of course, this is the theory. Whether these pests will rush towards the bonfire at night will only be known if you try it.
Jiang Xuan, with the mentality of treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor, immediately walked out of the bamboo house and went to the field. He asked the three tourists to stop catching bugs and be responsible for picking up firewood. Then he piled it into many places in the field where there were no crops.
A woodpile.
Next, it’s time to wait for nightfall.
Jiang Xuan and everyone worked hard to catch insects while anxiously waiting for nightfall.
Time is like water, the sun rises and sets, and the day quickly turns into night.
When night fell, Jiang Xuan lit a torch from the bamboo house, then walked into the field and lit the firewood piles one by one.
"Crack, crackle, crackle..."
The dry firewood quickly burned, making a crackling sound, and piles of bonfires ignited, and the flames lit up the night.
Those flying insects that were flying around in the cultivated fields and eating the crops suddenly became overwhelmed when faced with the sudden appearance of a strong light source.
They flew around randomly, and then flew towards the fire in a spiral trajectory.
"Pa!"
The first bug flew towards the bonfire, and after its wings were burned off, it fell into the fire and was burned until it exploded.
This bug is just the beginning.
Soon, countless flying insects rushed over like piles of bonfires, were burned to death by the blazing flames, and exploded.
"Okay!"
The tourists who had been waiting nearby cheered, and Gan Song's face turned red with excitement.
Jiang Xuan stood next to a bonfire, watching the insects fall one by one, and finally let out a sigh of relief.
This method is effective, especially when dealing with these flying insects.
As long as these flying insects are burned to death and the remaining reptiles are less destructive, the crops of the Vine Tribe can be saved.
That night, countless insects were burned to death, and the burning smell permeated the entire open land, making countless wild animals afraid to approach.
The fire burned all night, and it was not until dawn that Jiang Xuan and others returned to the bamboo house to sleep.
The same goes for tourists. They need to frequently add dry firewood or dead bamboo to the bonfire to keep the bonfire burning.
It was not until dawn that the bonfire gradually extinguished and everyone could go back to rest.
There is only one exception, and that is nard.
He watched the last bonfire go out, picked up a roasted worm from the side of the bonfire, and put it into his mouth.
"Crack..."
The worm was baked very crispy, so the nard chewed the worm a few times and swallowed it.
He walked slowly in the crop field and carefully observed the crops. After discovering that the number of insects was very small, he finally felt relieved.
"That's great. If we burn it a few more times, we should be able to burn all these bugs to death, and the things we plant can continue to grow."
Gansong stroked a round potato seedling with incomplete leaves, and showed a happy smile on his face.
***The author has something to say***
Thanks to the book friend "Looking Up at the Starry Sky: Infinite Reverie" for the reward.