African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 816 Agricultural Development Report 1890

This possibility was only a few years ago. At present, the Japanese navy has developed. As for the Far East Imperial Navy, it is basically impossible to "get it right".

Throughout the 1980s, the navies of the United States, Japan, and the Far Eastern Empire all expanded. The East African navy was somewhat lagging behind in this regard. However, with the end of the South African War, Ernst did not intend to focus on military expansion in the future.

Moreover, due to the high military expenditures caused by the high-intensity war for a whole year, and the impact of the war on East Africa's foreign trade, East Africa suffered great economic losses.

 After the war with the British, East Africa's surrounding environment will be safe for the next twenty years, so in the next ten years East Africa should focus on developing its economy, especially promoting industrial upgrading.

 …

 The first town.

 The Ministry of Agriculture reports to Ernst on the current development of agriculture in East Africa.

Agriculture Minister Augustine said: "In the past two decades, our country's agriculture has made brilliant achievements. In the 1980s alone, a total of 60 million hectares of cultivated land were opened up, which is two to three times the total cultivated land area of ​​Germany. (At this time, the area of ​​Germany was larger than that of later generations), and the total cultivated land area in the country reached 120 million hectares.”

 Officials in East Africa have always liked to use Germany as a reference for data. In addition to East Africa's national attributes, the most important thing is that East Africa only knows Germany best.

The arable land area of ​​East Africa is only half that of the United States, but the population may not be less than that of the United States. In 1890, the population of the United States was more than 60 million, while the population of East Africa was at least 50 million. After all, the population of East Africa exceeded 30 million ten years ago. Including black people, the number directly exceeds 50 million. Now that Mozambique and Angola are added, the entire population of East Africa (including black people) is likely to be close to or exceed 60 million or even 70 million.

 1.4 billion hectares, which is about 1.8 billion acres of land. Of course, the scale of land in East Africa is completely dwarfed by that of the United States, which is about 4 billion acres, and may even exceed 5 billion acres.

Because in this era, the United States has not experienced the severe blows of the "Black Storm" and does not pay attention to environmental issues. With the western development movement, the area of ​​cultivated land in the United States has fully doubled compared to the 1960s. At that time, the cultivated land in the United States had exceeded 20%. billion acres.

Of course, the account cannot be calculated like this. The United States has been involved in North America for more than a hundred years. In addition, the colonial history of Spain, France and the United Kingdom exceeds hundreds of years (Spain set up a colonial stronghold in Florida in 1565). .

Secondly, U.S. agriculture is more inclined to commercialization rather than for the so-called "subsistence and clothing" problem. For example, a large amount of U.S. agricultural products are actually used as feed for animal husbandry and industrial production raw materials. In this regard, East Africa is definitely not up to the level of the United States.

  In other words, East Africa relies on half of the cultivated land area of ​​the United States to support a similar population.

East Africa has been conservative in land development. Although the expansion rate is not slow, in the 1980s, many areas that were "unsuitable" for agricultural development were also abandoned. These areas are generally dominated by problems such as water sources.

Of course, the agricultural development in East Africa is not to solve the problem of "food and clothing". Ernst first started based on the issue of food security in the national security of East Africa, and then made efforts to develop cash crop agriculture.

 A large amount of arable land in East Africa is used to produce tropical cash crops, staggering development with the United States, the world's largest agricultural power.

If we rely solely on grain cultivation, East Africa will not be able to take advantage of the international agricultural market. Not to mention the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Austria, and Russia are all agricultural powerhouses. No matter how much grain East Africa produces, it will be difficult to squeeze into this part of the market.

The most important thing is the issue of channels. East Africa has a short history and what is most lacking in the traditional agricultural field is channels. Therefore, focusing on developing tropical cash crop cultivation is the only way for East Africa to play a role in the international agricultural market. As for the food market, it can only slowly develop. open up. “However, the overall development level of my country’s agriculture is still at a low level, especially in areas such as mechanization and chemical fertilizers, which are far behind those of European and American powers.”

"As of 1889, the total number of agricultural harvesters in our country was more than 7,300, and more than 5,000 were imported from Austria and Germany. There were only less than 2,000 domestically produced, and most of them were produced in the 1980s. , In the early 1980s, the number of agricultural harvesters in Germany may have exceeded 20,000, and now it is probably around 70,000 to 80,000, and there will only be more in the United States and the United Kingdom.”

 The number of harvesters in Germany reached more than 20,000 in the early 1980s, and now it is almost the 1990s, so the number of agricultural harvesters in Germany may have increased several times.

As for East Africa, so far, the number of agricultural harvesters in the country has only reached more than 7,000. This gap is too big. You must know that the cultivated land area in Germany is far less than that in East Africa, only one-sixth of East Africa, but the agricultural The number of harvesters is more than ten times that in East Africa.

 So in terms of unit area, the penetration rate of agricultural harvesters in East Africa is not even one-seventieth of that in Germany.

“Today, our country is vigorously promoting the research and development of internal combustion engine tractors, and has produced a total of 53 sets of tractors powered by internal combustion engines, which are being piloted in multiple cities. This is an important breakthrough direction for improving the efficiency of agricultural production in our country.”

Agricultural tractors have always been a key development project in East Africa. Previously, tractors were mainly powered by steam power, but East Africa is one of the strongest countries in the field of internal combustion engines.

"Of course, water from afar cannot quench the thirst of nearby people. The current government is mainly promoting the promotion of large-scale livestock in rural areas. In the past ten years, the scale of my country's animal husbandry has doubled, which has provided conditions for the development of rural areas and my country's economic construction. In During the window period when agricultural tools such as internal combustion engine tractors are popularized and promoted, animal power may still be the main source of power for my country’s agricultural development in the next two to three decades.”

Of course, Augustine should have included black people. East Africa was able to almost double the size of its cultivated land in the 1980s, which was inseparable from the efforts of black people in East Africa.

 Especially the construction of water conservancy projects has provided the necessary conditions for opening up a large amount of high-quality farmland in East Africa. The construction of water conservancy projects in developed agricultural areas in central and eastern East Africa and Somalia has tended to be perfected.

To complete such a large-scale project in such a short period of ten years, in this era when it can only be completed by manpower, the price paid is unimaginable. The construction of water conservancy projects has even become the project with the highest death rate for black people in East Africa. Much more than railway construction.

Although the construction of East African railways is not slow, the amount of railway construction is destined to be unable to compare with the construction of water conservancy projects that are everywhere. Many places in East Africa are starting from scratch. A large number of rivers and swamps need to be treated. At the same time, more water diversion canals need to be dug and constructed. Plenty of reservoirs and more.

The suffering of black people in East Africa is far from over. For example, there is a large amount of land suitable for agricultural development in Mozambique, and East Africa has to wait for a large amount of manpower, material and financial resources to be developed and constructed.

Ernst is very satisfied with the report of the Ministry of Agriculture. Agriculture is the foundation of the country. The agricultural development in East Africa has reached his psychological expectations. Of course, this is only the first step in the development of East African agriculture, and the first step has not yet been finalized. Finish.

There is still a large amount of arable land in East Africa that has not been effectively utilized. As for the land resources in East Africa, Ernst believes that the land resources in East Africa will be increased by at least one billion acres. Not to mention being the same as the United States, it should not be too different, ensuring the third position in the world.

 At present, the United Kingdom ranks first in the world, and the United States ranks second. However, most of the United Kingdom’s land is colonies. If we only compare the mainland, the United States is far ahead of other countries.

The area of ​​cultivated land in Tsarist Russia cannot expand as rapidly as in East Africa. As a cold zone country, Tsarist Russia has few crop varieties to choose from. On the contrary, it cannot fully invest in tropical cash crop cultivation like East Africa. The traditional grain cultivation industry has remained low because of international grain prices. It hasn't been very profitable in the past few years.

 (End of this chapter)