Chapter 1453 - 20: Pingyuan Province (2)

Chapter 1453: Chapter 20: Pingyuan Province (2)

Pingyuan Province.

As one of the relatively young provinces in East Africa, agriculture in Pingyuan Province is mainly based on state-owned farms.

After nearly thirty years of development, Pingyuan Province has now become East Africa’s new agricultural production base, especially in terms of the area under rice cultivation, where it holds an absolute advantage.

Pingyuan Province was the first region where agricultural mechanization in East Africa was piloted, and because it joined East Africa relatively late, its agriculture everywhere bears the imprint of various government-organized plans.

"Centered on the Limpopo River and other rivers, Pingyuan Province has become our country’s new agricultural production base, especially in commercial grains, and occupies an important position in the national food market."

"In 1920, the number of state-owned farms in our province reached as many as ninety-three, making it the region with the highest degree of agricultural nationalization in the country, and likewise a large modern agricultural demonstration zone within the Empire."

"In terms of mechanization, Pingyuan Province ranks first among all provinces in the Empire and is the first region to complete agricultural mechanization."

"During the Five-Five Plan period, our province will further respond to the policy calls of the Central Government, advance comprehensive management of the Limpopo River and other rivers within our borders, carry out scientific planning of all provincial land, maintain ecological balance, and achieve sustainable development..."

Governor Setro of Pingyuan Province spoke at length in front of reporters, as the East African Government began to implement its agricultural development policies for the Five-Five period.

As the main province where East Africa’s state-owned agricultural economy occupies a dominant position, Pingyuan Province has naturally become the focal point of attention this time.

"Governor Setro, today’s world is an era of industrialization, and Pingyuan Province is a typical major agricultural province. I wonder whether placing too much emphasis on agricultural development will affect Pingyuan’s future development?" A reporter from the National Agriculture Daily asked Setro.

In response to this question, Setro said, "Mr. Reporter, as you’ve mentioned, Pingyuan Province is designated by the state as an agricultural production area. This already determines that our province’s development positioning is different from that of other provinces."

"Therefore, Pingyuan Province’s primary task is to ensure the agricultural production targets assigned by the state, thereby stabilizing domestic food prices and making a positive contribution to ensuring that the people have enough to eat. I don’t think there is anything more important than making sure people are well-fed."

"Moreover, the particular conditions within our province have led us to strive toward becoming an agricultural base for the Great Lakes Region."

"Pingyuan Province’s advantage lies in agriculture. We have a unique national asset in the form of black soil plains, and black soil is one of the more scarce agricultural development resources worldwide."

"For example, Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe, the central United States, the Northeast of the Far East Empire, and Argentina—these four countries possess rich black soil resources, which is why their agriculture is well known across the world."

"Although the area of black soil in Pingyuan Province cannot be compared with these regions, it is still the largest black soil distribution zone within the Empire."

"In addition, our province has two other advantages: first, we are coastal, which makes outward transportation of our grain very convenient; second, we are flat plains, which made Pingyuan Province the first region in the country to achieve agricultural mechanization."

"At the same time, one point that deserves attention is that Pingyuan Province has a short development history, so our population is relatively small. This is precisely an important reason why Pingyuan Province can become the Empire’s production base for commercial grains."

East Africa’s Pingyuan Province was established only after the South African War, and to this day it has existed for just thirty years. Moreover, the promotion of mechanization has meant that the agricultural population in Pingyuan Province is not large.

Thus, although Pingyuan Province is an agricultural province, its characteristic of vast land and sparse population has actually made agricultural development here economically profitable.

Therefore, Setro said, "In summary, although industrial development has already become the main direction for countries around the world to seek breakthroughs..."

"Take East Africa, for instance: if we had not rapidly completed industrialization in the short thirty-year span from the 1890s of the last century to today, East Africa’s upper limit of development would be no higher than the current level of Brazil."

"Clearly, industry has played a crucial role in enabling the Empire to become one of the very few Great Powers in the world, but we likewise must not overlook the important contribution of agriculture to the Empire."

"Under specific conditions, agricultural development can also drive a country’s growth. The most typical example is Argentina. Argentina’s industry is not very developed, yet by relying on agricultural development, Argentina has become one of the fastest-growing countries at the beginning of this century."

Here, Setro used Argentina as an example because Argentina is a typical country that rose to wealth on the back of agriculture. In this Era, Argentina’s level of economic development is not necessarily inferior to that of other industrial powers.

"Governor Setro, allow me to interrupt. Argentina’s conditions for agriculture are arguably the best in the world. Can Pingyuan Province really be compared with Argentina?" the reporter asked.

Setro replied bluntly, "Apart from the difference in land area, Pingyuan Province and Argentina can only be said to have their own strengths. For instance, Argentina’s water resources are richer than ours, but our level of mechanization is higher. Argentina has the European market to support it, and we have the national market as our backing."

The reporter said, "But Argentina’s exports are mainly dairy and livestock products, which are of higher value, whereas Pingyuan Province specializes in grain cultivation, and international grain prices have long been at low levels, with higher input costs."

Setro did not refute the reporter’s point. He said, "We are indeed quite different from Argentina, but in terms of average economic level, the two are actually comparable. After all, Argentina has a population of nearly ten million, whereas our province has not even reached one million."

"Furthermore, due to our agricultural production tasks, our province’s degree of freedom is clearly not as great as Argentina’s. The fact that we have been able to develop to the current level is already pushing the limit."

"Of course, our province is also doing everything possible to promote industrial development, especially the development of the provincial capital Xinxiang and our province’s largest city, Inhambane."

Inhambane was an important port city in Mozambique in the previous life, and today it is one of the largest cities along the coastline between Bela and Maputo in East Africa.

"The city of Inhambane now has a population of more than two hundred thousand, and its level of industrial development ranks in the upper-middle tier nationwide."

"Therefore, apart from development in the agricultural sector, our province will further promote industrial development in the provincial capital Xinxiang and our largest city Inhambane."

"In particular, for Inhambane, our province will focus on shaping it into one of the region’s industrial centers, forming a strong industrial chain in agricultural machinery, food processing, and other fields."

In fact, although Pingyuan Province is a major agricultural province, it is at the same time one of the provinces in East Africa with the highest level of urbanization.

In 1920, the urbanization rate in Pingyuan Province exceeded sixty percent. One-third of the province’s population lives in the two cities of Xinxiang and Inhambane, and in addition, a large proportion of the population lives in other towns within the province.

The reason for this outcome lies in the fact that Pingyuan Province practices a large-scale agricultural production model, with a high degree of mechanization: only a relatively small population is needed to manage vast tracts of land.

Of course, this means that for Pingyuan Province to develop, it must rely on inflows of outside population, because Pingyuan Province inherently has a short history, and many of today’s residents of Pingyuan were relocated here from other regions by the East African Government back in the day.

Setro said, "Pingyuan Province attaches importance to both industrial and agricultural development. While ensuring completion of the national agricultural tasks, we also actively support the development of industry, commerce, and the service sector."

"During the Five-Five Plan period, our province will further promote intensification, diversification, and sustainable development in the agricultural sector."

"We will build a number of new water conservancy facilities, further upgrade the province’s basic conditions, ensure stable water supply for industry, agriculture, and daily life, and at the same time reduce the occurrence of flood disasters."

"Meanwhile, we will carry out conservation and improvement of the ecology in the Limpopo River basin, reduce soil erosion, and curb the emergence and spread of desertification problems."

The Limpopo River originates on the South African Plateau, but the main region that benefits from it is still Pingyuan Province. As for the upper reaches, due to their relatively small water volume, they are not worth paying too much attention to. Thus Pingyuan Province is the region that attaches the greatest importance to the Limpopo River’s ecological environment.

Because the upper reaches of the Limpopo River lie on the South African Plateau, and the plateau itself is a region with relatively low precipitation, vegetation is not lush and the ecology is fragile. If large-scale development were carried out, the Limpopo River could end up developing in the same direction as the Yellow River in the Far East Empire.

Fortunately, the upper reaches of the Limpopo River are not heavily populated; otherwise, if overdevelopment occurred, the area ultimately harmed would still be Pingyuan Province.

Pingyuan Province’s natural conditions are favorable, but that doesn’t mean it has no shortcomings. Moreover, because of its short history, the problem of insufficient development experience is unavoidable.

During the Five-Five Plan period, the Pingyuan Provincial Government intends to correct the problems that have emerged in Pingyuan Province over the past thirty years.