Chapter 1037 - 576: The End of the Lottery and the Strategic Importance of Sweet Potatoes

Marie saw Zong Shen turn around with a smile on his face and beckon to the High-tier Agriculturalist Salome Lin Yu standing behind him.

"Salome Lin Yu, do you know what this crop is?"

Zong Shen waved the sweet potato vine in his hand, which made him unconsciously take a few steps forward.

The eyes of the Natural Druid narrowed slightly as he stared at the sweet potato vine, his gaze slowly sweeping over each leaf and vein, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

After a long silence of half a minute, he furrowed his eyebrows.

He bowed with some embarrassment and said.

"Please forgive me, my lord."

"In my memory and in the High-tier Agriculture Atlas, there is no such crop..."

"However, from it, I can sense a strong vitality."

Zong Shen smiled slightly, not surprised by this result.

Regardless of soldiers or technical talents, as long as they are recruited, their origins are different.

They basically come from between more than ten thousand years ago to several thousand years ago.

And the sweet potato vine of the Endless Continent only spread from the Southeast Island more than eight hundred years ago as a new crop.

Due to various reasons, it is not even widely popularized in the continent.

So it’s normal that Salome Lin Yu doesn’t know what the sweet potato vine is.

"This is a high-yield food crop."

"You can directly plant it by cutting this piece of vine stem into several segments, keeping the bud opening."

"After planting, it needs a lot of water."

"In summer, it can fully mature in about four to five months."

"It will produce a large number of tubers that can be steamed or roasted for eating."

"It gives a strong sense of satiety and contains a lot of sugars."

"If blessed by natural magic, its yield can be much higher than wheat!"

Zong Shen roughly explained the characteristics and situation of sweet potatoes from his memory to Salome Lin Yu.

His eyes brightened up while listening.

"If what you say is true."

"Then the planting cost and comprehensive benefits of this crop must exceed that of wheat!"

"Could you... could you let me see it?"

Salome Lin Yu, worthy of being a high-level agriculturist, was very interested in any crop.

Due to the difference in times, he didn’t know the sweet potato crop, so he placed extra importance on the sweet potato vine in front of him.

Zong Shen was very satisfied with his request and reaction.

He raised his hand and handed over the sweet potato vine.

Salome Lin Yu bent over, using his wide hands to carefully take it.

In fact, regarding sweet potatoes, there were also some details Zong Shen hadn’t mentioned to him.

The sweet potato crop has many advantages, and it can save thousands of lives in times of famine.

But as a coarse grain, it is still very different from staple foods.

If eaten too much for a long period, sweet potatoes can cause bloating and abdominal pain because they contain an oxidase, which easily generates a large amount of carbon dioxide gas in the human gastrointestinal tract.

This is also why eating sweet potatoes is prone to causing flatulence.

In addition, the high sugar content in sweet potatoes can cause stomach discomfort.

Sweet potatoes have a high sugar content, and eating too many can stimulate the excessive secretion of stomach acid, causing discomfort.

Stomach acid can also reflux into the esophagus, causing acid regurgitation.

The most critical point is the lack of protein, fat, and various vitamins in sweet potatoes.

The deficiency of nutrients in sweet potatoes is why it cannot completely replace staple foods.

The reason rice and wheat can become staple foods and have a more special status than coarse grains is because their nutrition is more comprehensive.

Take rice for example; it contains fats, B vitamins, and proteins such as rice glutelin, rice albumin, and globulin, not to mention the carbohydrates mainly responsible for function within.

The same is true for wheat, with more comprehensive and rich nutrition.

Oil can even be extracted from the germ of wheat and rice.

This is one of the most important standards for staple foods!

However, this still cannot overshadow the advantages of sweet potatoes. Once large-scale planting occurs, Zong Shen has ways to handle it.

In other areas, the knowledge from Earth may not match that of the Endless Continent.

But when it comes to the use of sweet potatoes, the handling experience on Earth is more comprehensive and perfect than in the Endless Continent, where sweet potatoes are not yet popularized.

Large-scale planted sweet potatoes can be used for sugar production and sweet potato starch, made into sweet potato noodles,

and can be sun-dried directly into fragrant, soft sweet potato chips.

They can also be steamed and eaten directly, serving as a supplement to staple foods.

Its uses are many, and there’s absolutely no worry about not being able to consume them all!

Within a few minutes, Zong Shen had considered all its uses.

From its actual use, sweet potatoes are definitely a food crop with strong potential.

Although its tier is ordinary grade, categorized by the tier system of the Endless Continent,

it cannot obscure its significance for the development of the territory.

When sweet potatoes are massively brought forth, Zong Shen can also sell them to other lords.

They will definitely be warmly welcomed.

After all, the Avalon Kingdom is situated in the east of the continent and the probability of obtaining sweet potatoes is not large.

Just as Zong Shen was happily imagining, Marie piloted the Burden-Bearer Mecha from the east and entered the central area, coming directly to Zong Shen.

"My lord, I have arrived."

"Please let those three technical talents come with me."

Marie nodded in salute and immediately spoke efficiently.

At this moment, the Goblin Engineer Baclon Iron Hand also drove the Earth Shaker Tank back.

He parked the war chariot more than ten meters away from Zong Shen, opened the hatch, and climbed out excitedly.

Clearly, he was very satisfied with this Earth Shaker Tank.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Zong Shen clapped his hands to signal everyone to listen to him speak.

"Ahem!"

"This is Marie, the Internal Affairs Officer of the territory."

"You can address her as Lady Marie."

"She is in charge of logistics and internal affairs of the territory."

"Now she will arrange accommodations for you, please follow her to the living area!"