Chapter 332 Rice Seeds
The East African government was very unhappy about the Boers' secret support for the Ndebele people, and many people, including the hawks led by Constantine, wanted to attack the Transvaal Republic immediately.
However, he was stopped by Ernst.
Ernst: "We must punish the Boers severely for their actions, but now is not the time for us to do it. Imagine if we push them too hard and cause them to surrender to the British, then we will be in trouble. So even if we have to take action against the Boers, we must do it in one go and wipe out the Transvaal Republic as quickly as possible without giving them a chance to react."
Ernst's considerations are well documented. Historically, the Boers found it difficult to cope with the pressure from the Zulu Kingdom, so they took the initiative to surrender to the British, although the Zulus had the support of the British.
Later, as everyone knows, a large number of diamonds and gold mines were discovered in the area where the Boers lived. As the owners of this place, the Boers definitely wanted to keep them all for themselves.
But the British just wanted to take it for free, and the Boers were naturally dissatisfied, "Why are you so selfish!" So there was the Second Boer War, which was ultimately a dispute over interests.
Although the Boers rebelled against Britain, they knew what to choose when faced with threats. Although Britain was not a human monarch, the threat of this extremely feudal and autocratic country in East Africa to the Transvaal Republic was more deadly.
Finally, the East African Kingdom decided to prepare for war first, and when everything was ready, suddenly charge the Transvaal Republic with a crime at the end of the year, and then directly launch a blitzkrieg against the Transvaal Republic without giving it time to react. As for the witnesses and evidence in East Africa's hands, they should not be produced now to avoid alerting the enemy. By then, having this excuse for declaring war would be enough. In essence, it was still a question of whether East Africa wanted to do it or not.
Therefore, after some discussion, the East African government first transferred troops to the Matabele Plateau, and then chose to turn a blind eye to the Boers' support for the Ndebele people, continued to increase trade with the Boer Republic, paralyzed the Boer ruling class, and at the same time increased infiltration and intelligence gathering on the Boer Kingdom through trade and contact with Germans among the Boers.
…
June is the rice harvest season near the Great Lakes region. The rice harvest time in the Great Lakes region is not uniform, but it is mainly concentrated in the second half of the year, from June to December.
At present, the Great Lakes region is an important rice-growing area in East Africa. Its rice planting scale has exceeded that of the eastern coastal plains, making it the largest rice-growing base in East Africa.
Like the coastal areas, the Great Lakes region has abundant rainfall and sufficient heat. However, unlike the coastal plains of East Africa, the altitude here is high, and the temperature near the Great Lakes region is relatively cool. In Uganda, the temperature may drop below ten degrees Celsius at night.
Therefore, the rice varieties grown near the Great Lakes are different from the indica rice grown in the coastal plains of East Africa. Instead, they are japonica rice grown in East Asia. Compared to indica rice, japonica rice is more cold-resistant and suitable for cultivation in mid- and high-latitudes.
The choice of the location for growing rice in the Great Lakes region in East Africa may be surprising. After careful selection among many regions in the Far East, the Far East northeastern rice variety that is most similar to the Great Lakes region of East Africa was found.
The climate of the Great Lakes region is definitely different from that of the Far Northeast, but the summer temperatures in some areas of the Far Northeast are quite similar to those of the Great Lakes region. The difference is that the Great Lakes region has more rainfall and the soil is also different.
However, rice is very sensitive to temperature, especially low temperatures. The temperature on the East African Plateau is almost ten degrees Celsius lower than that on the coast of East Africa. Therefore, the summer temperature at this latitude in the Far East is more similar to that in the Great Lakes region.
In fact, Liaodong is also a good place, but East Africa has no corresponding stronghold in Liaodong, and the Qing government also attaches great importance to the place where the dragon rises, so it chose to collect seeds in the north.
"It seems that the best growing rice at the moment is a rice variety from a place called Shanxi in the Far East. It has adapted to the environment of the Great Lakes region, especially the higher the altitude of the farmland, the better its growth. When I investigated rice planting in the Western Great Lakes Province last year, I found that the total rice production there was relatively high." Marcos, an East African rice researcher, said to government officials from the Northern Great Lakes Province.
Brzezin, a senior official of the Northern Great Lakes Province, asked: "Mr. Marcos, in other words, next year we should take the initiative to promote this type of rice cultivation on a large scale in the province?"
Marcos: "Yes, if you pursue higher yields and quality, but what I mean is! We should still keep more experimental fields for other varieties. Perhaps with the development of technology in the future, there will be breakthroughs, especially in the prevention and control of pests and diseases, where alternatives can be found at any time."
Brzezin: "So what do you think is the difference between the rice we grow here and the rice grown in the coastal plains of East Africa?"
Marcos: "Because of the temperature, the growing period of rice here is longer than that of the coastal plains. The sunlight is similar in both places, but the daily temperature difference is greater here. Based on my previous experience in the Far East, the rice produced by such rice has a fuller taste. However, the long-grain rice grown on the coast of East Africa is from India, which is very different from the rice grown in the Great Lakes region. The taste of Indian rice varieties is definitely not bad, but it all depends on personal eating habits and preferences."
Brzezin asked, "Can you be more specific?"
Marcos: "For example, pilaf is popular in the Middle East and India, while steamed rice is popular in the Far East. The two sides have different pursuits in food."
Brzezin: "So can I understand it this way? The rice from our Great Lakes region is more suitable for the Far East market, while the rice from the East African coastal provinces is more suitable for the Middle East and Indian markets?"
Marcos: "It's probably like this. Think about the Middle Eastern and Indian people's habit of eating with their hands. Long-grain rice is more suitable because it doesn't stick to their hands as easily. Rice produced from East Asian rice has more moisture after being cooked and has a soft and sticky texture, but it is not friendly to people who don't use tableware, and it is hotter."
As one of the few rice agriculture experts in East Africa, Marcos can be said to be only a mediocre expert. After all, Germany does not have relevant talents in this area.
Before he was hired as a rice researcher in East Africa, he was just an intern at the East African Institute of Tropical Agriculture, and his research direction was not rice, so he was a latecomer.
Therefore, his ability was very limited. He could only observe the growth of each rice variety, summarize his experience, and finally record the data for reference by the East African government.
The East African Kingdom adopted a copycat approach and did not have the talent to research breeding and hybridization, so rice was introduced from mature varieties from abroad, which were then planted in East Africa. Finally, they compared which ones had higher yields and better quality, and then promoted them on a large scale in the region, which was considered to be adapting to local conditions.
(End of this chapter)
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