Chapter 644 Tailor-made
Ernst has always attached importance to such sparsely populated areas, because this also means greater plasticity. However, Luzon Island is the core of the Philippines and an area that Spain has long integrated into. However, Ernst is not interested in it.
Of course, the bad guys still have to be the Americans. Although East Africa has some intentions towards the Philippines, it does not hinder the friendly relations between the two countries at all.
Just like this visit, Ernst put Spain last, which represented importance, and Alfonso XII also enjoyed the feeling of being respected.
Today, Spain is still a well-known world power, but like Portugal, its national fortunes have been declining. However, it is much stronger than Portugal. After all, its land area is large enough and it has the foundation of a great power in Europe.
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Northern Province.
In order for the "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" to be implemented smoothly, the governments of the Northern Province and Juba Province must join forces to develop in a coordinated manner, improve regional productivity, and release the industrial advantages of the two provinces, so the two sides held consultations in Mogadishu.
"In Somalia, we have developed an export-oriented agricultural economy, which has obvious advantages, but we also face great risks. The biggest threat to agriculture is the desert locust, and our Northern Province and Juba Province are important sources of this locust.
Therefore, in order to ensure the healthy development of regional agriculture and the stability of fiscal revenue, we must work hard to control locusts, and this is not only the responsibility of our Northern Province, but also has a significant connection with Juba Province. "
"Desert locusts are the most important agricultural hazard in Somalia. Both our provinces have a consensus on this. Locust plagues occur every year, but the scale is within controllable range, except for the last time when they spread from northern Somalia to our country."
"So to deal with this cross-border species, we must establish an effective monitoring and prevention mechanism and set up a unified control agency in the two provinces to regularly inspect the breeding of desert locusts. Once a problem is found, the danger should be eliminated in the bud at any time."
Desert locusts are widely distributed in northeastern East Africa, along the northern coast of Somalia, along the Red Sea coast, and on the Arabian Peninsula.
The only desert locusts that East Africa can effectively manage are those within its territory. Of course, East Africa happens to be the main activity area of the desert locusts. Otherwise, East Africa would not bother to control the desert locusts.
If we control them here and then have them fly over from next door, it would be a waste of energy. The desert locusts in the Arabian Peninsula mainly like to fly eastward, and the rest will cross the Red Sea to East Africa. However, in this way, most of their energy will be consumed. If East Africa takes some defensive measures, the risk can be minimized.
"Both provinces are in the Somali region, so it's difficult for two pest control centers to do their work because the border area between Northern Province and Juba Province is so long. If they shirk responsibility, the locusts may reproduce on a large scale at the provincial border, which will eventually drag everyone down. Therefore, the agricultural-related agencies of the two provinces should communicate more and establish smooth channels for information exchange, or even go a step further and work together."
The matter was settled in this way. After all, it was within the scope of everyone's responsibilities, so there was no need to worry about causing any trouble.
"There is also the issue of cash crops in our Somalia region. The two most popular crops in Somalia now are cotton and bananas. Although these two crops have high economic value, it is risky to only retain these two crops, and it does not meet the definition of the 'Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan.' Fruit basket, fruit basket, the basket cannot contain only bananas, otherwise it will become the 'Eurasian Banana Plan'." said the Director of the Juba Provincial Department of Agriculture.
"I agree with this. Single crops have the worst resistance to pests and diseases. Once an attack occurs, it may cause irreparable losses. In addition, enriching the categories of fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc. is one of our plans in Somalia." The Director of the Northern Province Agriculture Department was not to be outdone.
Of course, this is not enough. After all, it feels like repeating what others have said. So he further proposed: "We in East Africa have a big disadvantage in this regard, especially in seed selection and breeding, and species categories. After all, East Africa has a short history and lacks relevant agricultural talents, so it is difficult to achieve results in a short period of time. We should also learn more from local experience and lessons."
As he spoke, he pulled out a gray thing from his pocket that didn't look very good and put it on the table.
"Director Antonio, what is this?"
"This is a local agricultural crop. You may not have paid attention to this little thing. It is a plant that the local indigenous people like very much. It is called sedge."
“Is this the fruit of the sedge?”
"To be more precise, it is a fruit that grows underground, similar to peanuts."
"What's the use of it?"
"In addition to eating, the most important thing is that it can be used to extract oil. The leaves of this plant can also be used as forage," said Antonio.
Then he began to introduce the advantages of cyperus oleiferus: "As an oil crop, it is not only high-quality and high-yield, but also has high comprehensive utilization value. More importantly, it is very suitable for survival in saline-alkali land, which is similar to many places in Somalia. It has good stress resistance and strong ability to resist adverse external factors. It is resistant to salt and alkali, has few diseases and insect pests, and spends less on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It has high yields, and the yield per mu can reach hundreds of kilograms, and the minimum is no less than 300 kilograms. The yield of one mu of cyperus oleiferus is equivalent to several mu of other oil crops."
The oil yield of cyperus oleifera is quite average, but its yield per mu is high, which makes cyperus oleifera more economically valuable.
"Of course, I want to emphasize that this crop is very resistant to diseases and insect pests, and the fruit grows underground, so there will be no loss even if there is a locust plague."
Cyperus sedge emits a special chemical substance with a pleasant fragrance, which actually has an insect repellent effect. This is naturally not known in East Africa, but the indigenous people here have thousands of years of planting experience, so it is not difficult to draw this conclusion.
"If that's the case, then why haven't we seen local people planting it on a large scale before?" someone asked.
Antonio replied: "Have you seen large-scale farming in Africa before us? Especially in animal husbandry areas like Somalia, other lands are also mainly used for wheat and other grains."
However, Antonio changed the subject and said, "Although sedge has many advantages, it is not without disadvantages. For example, its fruit is harder to harvest than other crops. This plant has a strong tillering ability, and its fruit is a little smaller than peanuts, so it is more troublesome to harvest. However, we don't have to worry about growing this crop in the two provinces of Somalia. The soil in Somalia is mainly sandy and soft. I have designed a tool specifically for harvesting this crop with the craftsmen in Mogadishu, which will greatly improve efficiency."
There is another point that Antonio did not mention, that is, the fruits of sedge are more difficult to dehydrate than other oil crops and require long periods of sunlight drying. However, if this problem occurs in other areas, it can indeed easily cause the fruits of sedge to deteriorate.
However, Somalia has little rainfall, many sunny days and a dry climate, so it does not have this problem. In addition, sedge requires little chemical fertilizer, has a high yield and good oil quality, making it an oil crop tailor-made for the Somalia region.
(End of this chapter)
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