Chapter 1544 - 54: Food Security

Chapter 1544: Chapter 54: Food Security

As March arrived, North Lake Province in East Africa entered the rainy season, and torrential rains poured down, nourishing the lush rice seedlings in the fields. The orderly arrangements of plots, rivers, ponds, and lakes created a vibrant scene.

A security officer held a black umbrella and carefully attended to the Emperor of the Empire, while Ernst, wearing a raincoat, inspected the current agricultural development in the Great Lakes Region.

The rain was quite heavy at the moment, so even with an umbrella overhead, quite a bit of rain splashed onto the hood of the raincoat and subsequently trickled down the brim.

Meanwhile, the officials of North Lake Province were excitedly introducing the current agricultural situation of the province to His Majesty the Emperor.

Governor Manfred, like Ernst, wore a black raincoat, standing by a water channel on a machine-cultivated road reinforced with gravel, sand, and soil.

Facing the wind and rain, Manfred spoke as steadily and loudly as he could to Ernst: "Your Majesty, the arrival of rain this year is almost in line with our provincial meteorological department’s predictions, so this year should be another good year unless something unexpected happens."

Ernst nodded and said, "The agricultural development in the Great Lakes Region directly determines the agricultural situation nationwide. Favorable weather, naturally, couldn’t be better; the grain from the entire region is the Imperial People’s staple resource."

In fact, the climate in the Great Lakes Region is one of the most stable among East Africa’s main agricultural areas, with two rainy seasons a year, relatively even precipitation distribution, and proximity to the Congo Basin ensuring that not a drop of rain is withheld, even in the dry season.

Of course, this is the overall situation for most of North Lake Province, but in the northeastern outer edges of the province, the rainfall situation is not as optimistic.

However, the Great Lakes Region is fundamentally not reliant solely on rain, with interlaced rivers and numerous lakes providing abundant water resources. Even during droughts, a water shortage is impossible here.

Manfred’s next words also confirmed this point. He proudly said, "To maintain this staple resource for the entire nation, our province has made many efforts over the years."

"By 1920, our province’s arable land area had reached over 94 million acres, and in recent years, with irrigation and land management, the arable land area continues to expand. By the end of the five-year plan, the breakthrough of North Lake Province’s arable land area to 100 million acres is a certainty."

"Most of this is irrigated farmland and water-fed land, with rice acreage and yield maintaining the top position nationwide for many years. The production of key grain crops like wheat, corn, and soybeans is also at the forefront nationwide."

Nearly 100 million acres of arable land account for roughly 30% of North Lake Province’s area, which shows that there is still significant potential for agricultural development in North Lake Province.

In fact, there are three other provinces around the Great Lakes, and the combined arable land around the entire region approaches the level of 400 million acres.

So, Ernst happily said, "Agriculture in the Great Lakes Region, especially grain cultivation, occupies nearly a quarter of the nation’s total grain output, serving as the cornerstone of the Empire’s development, which must not be shaken."

"As North Lake Province is an important agricultural production base in the Great Lakes Region, your tasks are also quite heavy, especially when it comes to coordinating local ecological and agricultural development issues."

"For example, wetland protection, water and soil conservation, and comprehensive soil management. In fact, after years of development, our country’s agriculture has long surpassed the stage of blindly pursuing quantity."

"Therefore, on this basis, agricultural development should focus more on quality, while maintaining agricultural production and ensuring harmonious coexistence between humans and nature."

East Africa is a country with agricultural production surplus, relying on over two billion acres of arable land. Whether for production or living, the grain yield is more than enough to sustain the less than 200 million population of East Africa.

Moreover, this still considers the improvements in agricultural technology, the increase in pesticide and fertilizer production, and the enhancement of agricultural personnel’s skills, all of which affect agricultural yield per acre. So, without a doubt, even if East Africa does not expand its arable land area further, the grain output will continue to increase due to other factors.

Ernst said, "Since the last century, the international grain prices and market demand have consistently remained low, and although the Empire’s population has somewhat increased, it maintains a dynamic balance with current grain production."

"Therefore, continuing to blindly expand the scale of arable land no longer aligns with our country’s basic national conditions. Under this major premise, developing ecological agriculture and high-quality agriculture is the future path for East African agriculture."

The mention of ecological issues is because, in many parts of East Africa, over decades of development, related problems have indeed emerged. Especially in the intersection areas of grassland and desert, the destruction of vegetation has led to the expansion of desert areas.

After all, overall, East Africa is a relatively arid country, with the Somali Desert in the northeast, the Namib Desert and Kalahari Desert in the southwest, and the north bordered by the Sahara Desert. These are just deserts, not to mention sandy areas and arid grasslands.

Besides, the development at the rainforest boundaries has also encountered problems, with large-scale deforestation causing soil erosion in forest areas like the Congo Rainforest, thus leading to increased sediment content in rivers such as the Congo River, Zambezi River, and Nile River.

In summary, the ecology in many regions of East Africa is relatively fragile.