Chapter 1447 - 18: Water-Saving Agriculture (Part 2)

Chapter 1447: Chapter 18: Water-Saving Agriculture (Part 2)

In many backward countries and regions, people not only have to fight against the European flu but also endure famine, malnutrition, terrible sanitation, various natural disasters, and even wars.

Take the Far East Empire for example, although the European flu situation is quite severe, its impact is not as significant as the domestic warlord conflicts.

Now East Africa regards the Far East Empire much like the Far East Empire viewed Africa in a previous life. In the past life, Africa’s countries dealt with pandemics with an attitude of "nothing happened," or compared to other disasters, the pandemic was not considered a major event.

"As for other countries, such as the Europe and America great powers, the death toll generally hovers around several hundred thousand. The situation in Russia is unclear, but barring Russia, the country with the most deaths is the United States. According to last month’s data released by the United States, about six hundred thousand people have died."

This figure is significantly understated. According to East Africa’s estimate, the death toll in the United States should exceed one million. However, this is quite normal as all countries’ epidemic prevention departments are inclined to conceal figures when compiling statistics.

For example, the reported East African death toll of three hundred eighty thousand people should actually be higher, but the margin of error shouldn’t be much. Even if it doubled, it would only be on par with the published death toll in the United States, yet East Africa’s population is much larger than the Europe and America countries.

Even Russia, the fourth most populous country in the world, has tens of millions fewer people than East Africa.

Among the great powers, France has the lowest death toll due to the European flu, with about two hundred thousand deaths. However, France’s population is relatively low among the great powers, and it’s also suspected to be the pandemic’s origin point.

If it weren’t for Clemenceau’s introduction of the world’s strictest pandemic control measures under pressure, France would have suffered another heavy blow.

In comparison, the United Kingdom’s pandemic can be said to be the most severe among the great powers, with deaths exceeding five hundred thousand, second only to the United States. Yet, the UK mainland’s population is only half that of the United States.

After hearing the Ministry of Health’s data, Ernst said, "I hope this plague will end completely next year. However, we can no longer continue to consume resources against it. Social production activities must continue, and the fifth five-year plan must formally begin implementation."

"Given this year’s and next year’s pandemic situation, let’s first start projects in the agricultural sector. We’ll decide upon the development of industrial and service sector projects around next midyear, depending on the pandemic’s progression."

Agriculture is minimally affected by the pandemic, after all, the countryside areas have a relatively evenly distributed population, and production activities are relatively fixed—not like cities where populations are concentrated and constantly moving around.

Thus, in 1921, the East African Government’s fifth five-year plan opened with a focus on agriculture for the first time.

This is a stark contrast to previous East African five-year plans, which could essentially be termed five-year industrial plans with priority given to industrial development as the foundation.

In the fifth five-year plan, not only is the third industry designated as a development focus for the first time, but due to the pandemic’s unique reasons, the first area to take action is agriculture.

In the fifth five-year plan, the focus on agriculture is emphasized in two directions: comprehensive land renovation and water-saving agriculture.

Next, it was the agriculture department’s turn to report their work to Ernst.

"Your Majesty, based on the current situation of East African agricultural development, our Ministry of Agriculture, alongside the Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Land and Resources, through joint research and study, believe that during the fifth five-year plan period, agricultural sector development should be further promoted towards intensification."

"In 1920, the country’s cultivated land area reached 2.7 billion acres. Its grain planting area ranked second globally, while the area dedicated to economic crops ranked first globally."

"The Empire’s total agricultural output value ranks first worldwide, far exceeding other countries."

"Through more than two decades of development, the mechanization level of our agriculture has greatly improved, and the national possession of agricultural tractors alone has reached over eighty thousand units. Other grain or crop planting and harvesting machine numbers have also substantially increased."

"The production of pesticides and fertilizers has massively increased, further boosting the Empire’s agricultural output. The use of mechanization and chemical fertilizers has allowed our country’s grain yields to surpass those in the United States, making us number one in the world..."

This means that East Africa uses the world’s second-largest grain planting area to produce more grain than the United States.

And under the ongoing world agricultural crisis, East Africa’s remarkable achievements are inseparable from its national circumstances.

One fact needs to be acknowledged: due to population differences, East Africa has sixty million more mouths to feed than the United States, so East Africa is inevitably committed to agriculture, especially cereal crop cultivation.

In addition, East Africa’s agricultural mechanization level has reached world-first levels, and East Africa’s main grain crops are largely rice, while the United States relies on wheat.

Clearly, under normal circumstances, the yield of rice tends to be higher than that of wheat. Moreover, as a tropical nation, East Africa’s extensive land can achieve two annual harvests, and in reality, East Africa’s grain crops essentially achieve five harvests in two years.

Given these circumstances, East Africa inevitably surpasses the United States in grain production, as both countries have comparable land areas, while East Africa’s climate is actually favorable—at least better lighting and thermal conditions than the United States.

However, the distinct disadvantages in agricultural natural conditions between East Africa and the United States can be summarized into two points: soil and water sources.