Chapter 644 Tailor-made
Ernst has always valued such vast and sparsely populated areas, because it also means greater plasticity, and Luzon Island is the core of the Philippines, and it is also where Spain has long been. Ernst was not interested in the area of fusion.
Of course, the villain still has to be the Americans. Although East Africa has some intentions towards the Philippines, it will not delay the friendly relations between the two countries at all.
Just like this visit, Ernst put Spain last, which represents attention, and Alfonso XII also enjoyed this feeling of being respected.
Spain is still a well-known world power, but like Portugal, its national fortunes have been declining, but it is much better than Portugal. After all, the local area is large enough, and it has the foundation of a great power in Europe.
…
Northern Province.
In order for the "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" to be carried out smoothly, the governments of Northern Province and Juba Province must join forces for coordinated development, improve regional productivity, and release the industrial advantages of the two provinces. Therefore, the two parties held a meeting in Mogadishu Negotiate.
“In Somalia, we have obvious advantages in developing an export-oriented agricultural economy, but we also face greater risks. Among them, the greatest threat to agriculture is the threat of desert migratory locusts. , and our Northern Province and Juba Province are like this An important source of locusts
So in order to ensure the healthy development of regional agriculture and ensure stable fiscal revenue, we must work hard to control locusts. This is not only our responsibility in the Northern Province, but also with Juba Province. There is a significant connection.”
“Desert locusts are the most important agricultural hazard in Somalia. Our two provinces agree on this. Locust plagues occur every year, but the scale is within controllable limits, except for the last time when the northern region of Somalia spread into our country. ”
“So to deal with this cross-border crime species, we must establish an effective monitoring and prevention mechanism, and at the same time set up a unified control agency in the two provinces to conduct regular inspections of the breeding situation of desert locusts. When a problem is discovered, the danger should be nipped in the bud at any time.”
Desert locusts are widely distributed in northeastern East Africa, the northern coast of Somalia, the Red Sea coast, and the Arabian Peninsula.
The only thing that can be effectively managed in East Africa is the desert migratory locust in East Africa. Of course, East Africa happens to be the main activity area of the desert migratory locust. Otherwise, East Africa would not bother to control the desert migratory locust at all.
It would be a waste of energy to control it here and then fly over from next door. Desert migratory locusts in the Arabian Peninsula mainly like to fly eastward, and the rest will cross the Red Sea and reach East Africa. But in this way As a result, most of its energy has been consumed. East Africa can minimize the risk by taking a few defensive measures.
"Both provinces are in the Somali region, and it is difficult for the two pest control centers to handle things, because the border area between Northern Province and Juba Province is so long. If we shirk responsibility from each other, locusts will breed on a large scale on the provincial border, which will end up being the worst. Drag everyone down, Therefore, the agricultural-related agencies in the two provinces should communicate more and establish smooth channels for information exchange, or go further and work together. "
This matter has been settled in this way. Anyway, it is within their respective powers. So I'm not afraid of causing trouble.
“There is also the problem of cash crops in our Somali region. Apart from cotton, the two most popular crops in Somalia are bananas. Although these two crops have high economic value, it is risky to keep only these two crops. It is too big and does not meet the definition of the 'Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan'. A fruit basket, a fruit basket, cannot only contain bananas, then it would become the 'Eurasian Banana Plan'," said the director of the Juba Provincial Department of Agriculture. .
“I also agree with this. A single crop has the worst resistance to pests and diseases. Once it occurs, it may cause irreparable losses. Moreover, the richness of fruits, vegetables, flowers and other categories is our One of Somalia’s plans.” The director of the Northern Province Department of Agriculture was not to be outdone.
Of course, this is not enough. After all, this seems to be a bit misleading, so he further proposed: "At this point, we in East Africa have a big disadvantage, especially in terms of selective breeding and species categories. After all, East Africa has a history of It is too short, and there is a lack of relevant agricultural talents, so it is difficult to achieve results in a short period of time. We should also learn more experience and lessons from the local area." As he said this, he took out a gray bull machine from his pocket and showed it. It doesn't look very nice sitting on the table.
“Director Antonio, what is this?”
“This is a local agricultural crop. You may not have paid attention to this gadget. It is a favorite of the local indigenous people. The plant is called sedge. "
"Is this the fruit of sedge?"
"To be precise, it is a fruit that grows underground like peanuts."
"Then what is it used for?"
"Aside from eating, the most important thing is that it can be used to extract oil. The leaves of this plant can also be used as pasture." Antonio said.
He then began to introduce the advantages of oil sedge: "As an oil crop, it not only has high quality and high yield, but also has high comprehensive utilization value. More importantly, it is very suitable for surviving in saline-alkali soil. This Similar to many places in our Somali region, it has good stress resistance, strong ability to withstand adverse external factors, and is resistant to salt. Alkali, less pests and diseases, low cost of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, high yield, the yield per mu can reach hundreds of kilograms, and the minimum is no less than 300 kilograms. The yield of one acre of oilseed bean is equivalent to several acres of other oil crops."
The oil production rate of oil sedge is quite average, but its high yield per mu makes the oil sedge more economically valuable.
“Of course, I want to emphasize that this crop is very resistant to pests and diseases, and the fruits grow underground, so there will be no harvest in the face of a locust plague.”
Oil sedge emits a special chemical substance with a refreshing fragrance, which actually has an insect repellent effect. Naturally, this is not clear in East Africa, but the indigenous people here have thousands of years of cultivation experience, so it is not possible to draw this conclusion. Disaster.
"If that's the case, why haven't we seen locals planting it on a large scale before?" someone asked.
Antonio replied: "Have you ever seen large-scale farming in Africa before us? Especially in livestock areas like Somalia, other lands are mostly dominated by wheat and other grains."< br>
It’s just a matter of conversation Turn, Antonio also said: "Oil sedge has many advantages, but it is not without its shortcomings. For example, compared with other crops, its fruits are not easy to harvest. This plant has particularly strong tillering power, and the fruits are smaller than peanuts. It's a little bit more troublesome when harvesting, but I We don’t have to worry about planting this crop in the two provinces of Somalia. The soil in Somalia is mainly sandy soil and the soil is relatively soft. I have designed a special machine with the craftsmen in Mogadishu to mine this crop. Tools will greatly improve the efficiency.”
Another point that Antonio did not mention is that the fruits of oil sedge are more difficult to dehydrate than other oil crops and require a long period of sunlight drying. However, if this problem arises, Occurring in other areas, it is indeed easy to cause the sedge fruit to deteriorate.
However, Somalia has less precipitation, more sunny days, and a dry climate, so there is no such problem. In addition, oil sedge requires less chemical fertilizers, has high yield, and good oil quality. It can be regarded as an oil crop tailor-made for the Somali region.
(End of this chapter)