African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1533 Swabia
The Nanjing government's performance in recent years has been a laughing stock in the international community. Its voluntary abandonment of Northeast China is equivalent to Germany handing over the Ruhr region to France. Its lack of active resistance against Japan in Shanghai and its permission for Japanese troops to be stationed there is equivalent to the Soviet Union allowing Germany to station troops in Leningrad. Moreover, Shanghai is the gateway to the Yangtze River, and its importance is far greater than that of Leningrad.

"The performance of the Nanjing government is truly indescribable, but I now understand why you were initially displeased with them, Father. Their actions are utterly incompetent," Friedrich commented after reading the final message from the Far Eastern Empire.

Ernst sneered, “That’s why I’m asking us to shift our forces in the Far East to their strategic rear. If the Nanjing government continues to act this way, the early stages of Japan’s war against the Far Eastern Empire will be much easier.”

"And then there are countries like Britain. They are now allowing Japan's aggression to continue, but sooner or later Japan will turn against them once it becomes too powerful in the Far East."

"However, this is also the result we want to see. Before that, we should provide limited assistance to the Far Eastern Empire to eliminate Japan's desire to attack the Far Eastern Empire and guide them to the Southeast Asia."

"We also need to help Japan obtain relevant intelligence in Southeast Asia, Australia and other regions, and increase investment in resources such as Australian iron ore, coal, Myanmar and North Borneo oil, and East India tin."

This will be a long-term strategy, after all, Japan still has to digest its two colonies, Korea and Northeast China. In the next few years, the Far East will enter a short period of stability.

The timeframe is approximately five or six years. During this period, East African intelligence agencies will intensify their propaganda efforts within Japan, drawing its attention to regions such as Southeast Asia and Australia.

Objectively speaking, moving south would have been more conducive to Japan transforming the fruits of its aggression into national strength, while also allowing it to leverage its naval advantages. In contrast, while attacking the Far East continent might seem to yield substantial gains, the costs would have been extremely high, and it would have been impossible to hold the position.

In a previous life, Japan invaded Southeast Asia.
……

Swabia Province, East Africa.

February is the soybean harvest season in Swabia Province. Soybeans in Swabia Province are divided into two seasons. The main season is planted from October to November and harvested in February and March of the following year. The second season is planted in February and March and harvested in May and June.

Therefore, during this period, a novel scene emerged in Swabia: East African farmers and businesses were simultaneously harvesting soybeans and planting them.

In East Africa, soybean cultivation has largely become mechanized. Soybean harvesters and threshing machines drive through soybean fields, scooping up the dry, yellow soybean stalks, threshing them, and feeding them into the truck bed behind the machine. The stalks are then transported to a nearby transport vehicle via a conveyor pipe, while the stalks are directly crushed and returned to the field.

Beside an experimental soybean field, East African soybean expert Chaid and his team are weighing the soybeans harvested from the field.

“Professor, according to our final measurements, the yield of Chai 29 from this hectare of soybean field is about 1.294 tons, just short of 1.3 tons. It’s such a pity,” said Abel, Chai’s student.

One 1.294 tons per hectare is roughly 85 kilograms per acre, and soybean yields in the United States can easily reach this level, with high-yield fields even reaching 120 kilograms per acre.

Chad was quite satisfied with the data, saying, "In the past two or three years, the yield of Chad 29 has stabilized at 1.2 tons per hectare, which is higher than the yield of most soybean varieties on the Imperial market today. Therefore, I am very satisfied with this data."

Currently, the average yield of soybeans in East Africa is around 60 kilograms per acre, with high-yield fields reaching over 70 kilograms per acre. Chai 29 will undoubtedly play a role in promoting soybean cultivation in East Africa in the future.

Chai 29 is an abbreviation of Chai De's surname, and 29 is the year, namely 1929. In other words, the soybean variety Chai 29 was developed by Professor Chai De's team in 1929.

Of course, it's impossible that Chede's team is the only one conducting research in soybean cultivation in East Africa. In a major world power like East Africa, there are bound to be many researchers, teams, companies, and institutions working on soybeans alone.

Abel said, "However, even the yield of Chai 29 soybeans is still far behind that of American soybeans, not to mention the common soybean varieties in East Africa."

"Currently, the yield of soybeans per unit area in East Africa is on par with that of the Far Eastern Empire, the place of origin. The birth of Chai 29 only barely surpasses that of the Far Eastern Empire."

The main soybean producing areas of the Far Eastern Empire are located in the Northeast, where high-yield fields can easily exceed 70 kilograms per mu (approximately 13.3 tons per acre). Irrigated land in North China can also reach 60 kilograms per mu (approximately 4.3 tons per acre). The unit yield of Chai 29 is stable at over 80 kilograms per mu (approximately 4.3 tons per acre). If it can be promoted, it will naturally enable the soybean yield per unit area in East Africa to stably exceed that of the Far Eastern Empire.

Abel continued, "Moreover, East Africa surpasses the Far Eastern Empire in agriculture, technology, and fertilizer usage."

Soybean cultivation in East Africa is clearly very different from that in the Far Eastern empires. For example, East Africa has more professional research teams, more efficient planting and management models, advanced machinery and equipment, and abundant pesticides and fertilizers.

The agriculture of the Far Eastern Empire was mainly based on small-scale farming, even in the main soybean producing areas in the northeast. It relied more on the experience of farmers and lacked professional machinery and equipment. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides was almost zero, and even the use of farmyard manure was probably not much.

Chaide didn't seem too concerned about this. He said, "Our East Africa is indeed more advanced than the Far Eastern Empire's planting areas in terms of mechanization, breeding technology, pesticides and fertilizers, but the Far Eastern Empire also has its natural advantages."

"For example, the soil in the northeastern part of the Far Eastern Empire is one of the most fertile black soils in the world, while the land in Swabia Province is not only incomparable to it, but also somewhat barren compared to some ordinary lands in Eurasia."

"In terms of climate, the temperature in the northeast of the Far Eastern Empire is low, which helps to reduce the occurrence of pests and diseases."

"Finally, there's the soybean itself. It originated in the Far Eastern Empire and is a mid-to-high latitude crop. Swabia, on the other hand, has a tropical savanna and rainforest climate. It's not surprising that East African soybeans have low yields per unit area without human intervention."

"Therefore, in my opinion, it is already quite good that the average soybean production capacity of the Empire is on par with that of the Far Eastern Empire. Moreover, with the cultivation of high-yield varieties such as Chai 29, it is almost a foregone conclusion that our soybean production will surpass that of the Far Eastern Empire in the future."

"In the field of soybean cultivation, the real target we should pay attention to is the United States. The United States is not much worse than East Africa in terms of agricultural technology, and their soybean growing areas, climate, and soil are top-notch natural endowments, just like the northeastern part of the Far Eastern Empire."

"Therefore, it will be quite difficult for our country to surpass the United States in soybean yield per unit area. However, I believe that as long as we continue to make progress, one day East Africa will also be able to enter the first tier in terms of soybean yield per unit area."

The soybean-growing region of the United States, namely the northern Great Lakes and the central Great Plains, is also a region with black soil, and is the second largest black soil region in the world. Its latitude and climate are similar to those of the soybean-growing regions of the Far Eastern Empire. Coupled with the United States' accumulated technology in the agricultural field, it is not surprising that its soybean production ranks first in the world.

In contrast, East Africa, with most of its territory located in the tropics, can grow soybeans in most parts of the country. However, because soybeans are a temperate crop, their yield is naturally lower than that of mid- to high-latitude regions. Regarding soil, many areas in East Africa have low soil fertility; in Swabia, the soil fertility is below average, and the local soil is acidic, requiring soil improvement.

For example, in East Africa, before planting soybeans, a large amount of lime is added to the farmland to neutralize the soil, and other fertilizers are also added to improve soil fertility.

Finally, there is the issue of pests and diseases, which is also a major factor hindering soybean cultivation in East Africa. As a result, the amount of pesticides used is higher than in the United States and the Far Eastern Empire.

However, these natural limitations have not hindered the rapid development of soybean cultivation in East Africa.

In Ernst's vision, East Africa was fully capable of learning from the soybean cultivation models of Brazil and Argentina in their previous lives and becoming a major soybean producer in the world.

Brazil and Argentina were the world's largest and third-largest soybean producers in the past, respectively. Brazil, in particular, produced more soybeans than the United States. Moreover, Brazil's climate, latitude, and soil conditions are most similar to those of East Africa.

Argentina was not bad either, with its soybean production exceeding 50 million tons in the previous life, while the Far Eastern Empire only reached 20 to 30 million tons. The climate of Argentina's soybean-growing areas in the previous life was similar to that of southern East Africa.

The latitude, temperature, sunlight, and soil conditions of soybean-growing regions in Brazil and Argentina are quite similar to those in East Africa. Coupled with East Africa's vast land area, this means that East Africa also has the potential to become the world's number one soybean-growing country.

Of course, there is another important reason for soybean cultivation in East Africa, which is related to the current development of the ecological environment in East Africa.

Legumes play a significant role in soil improvement, and therefore, East Africa hopes to improve the soil in areas such as Swabia through soybean cultivation. Soybeans have a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia and possess nitrogen-fixing capabilities, thus reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and resulting in significant ecological benefits.

In addition, soybeans are a crop with high economic benefits, providing nutrients such as oil and protein, making them very suitable for use as animal feed. Therefore, soybean cultivation in East Africa can simultaneously take into account both economic and environmental aspects.

Ched said, "With the planting of soybeans, the agricultural potential of Swabia can be raised. In a few decades, Swabia Province may become a new agricultural development zone in the Empire, instead of relying entirely on the mining of resources such as copper mines now."

The location of Swaben Province is actually the southern region of the former Democratic Republic of Congo, between the Katanga Plateau and the Congo rainforest, belonging to the central region of East Africa.

Industrial revenue in the Swabian province has declined in recent years, a result of reduced copper mining operations.

With the development of trade between East Africa and other countries around the world, copper resources from Chile, Peru, the former Soviet Union, and Southeast Asia have entered East Africa, posing a challenge to the copper mining industry in the Swabian copper belt.

Kitwe, also located in the copper mining belt, began adjusting its industries many years ago, while the Swabian province has been seeking new economic growth points, enriching its industries, and reducing its heavy reliance on mining development in recent years.

Besides mineral resources such as copper mines, the Swabian province focuses on three areas: first, the processing and manufacturing industry, such as non-ferrous metal smelting and processing, and textiles.

Secondly, there is the power industry. The Swabian province has huge hydropower potential, and its location in central East Africa facilitates the transmission of electricity to the east, central and western regions.

Finally, there's agriculture. Swabia has two climates: tropical rainforest and tropical savanna. Therefore, Swabia has focused on the cultivation of cash crops, such as coffee, cotton, and soybeans, expanding their planting areas. At the same time, livestock farming is also developing rapidly.

Of course, the success of these measures depends on how the Swabian province allocates its resources. For example, soybean cultivation in Swabian province needs to be supported by related processing enterprises to turn soybeans into oil, soy products, feed, etc., in order to better meet market demands and increase local economic benefits.

If we rely solely on single-crop cultivation without developing related industries, Swabia Province will forever remain at the downstream end of the industrial chain.

In fact, Swabia Province is located in the central part of the country and is an important region connecting the eastern, central, western and northern parts of East Africa. Therefore, if possible, Swabia Province will definitely attach importance to the development of transportation to achieve integrated agricultural planting, agricultural product processing and national distribution, and further consolidate its market advantages.

Unfortunately, the Central Province of East Africa has become the heart of the country's inland transportation network, with two major integrated transportation hubs, New Frankfurt and Rhine, so the Swabian Province had to abandon its plans for transportation development.

Of course, for the current Swabian province, the most important aspect of its economic strategy is obviously the development of electricity and related industries, taking advantage of cheap electricity to develop some energy-intensive industries.

Industry has always been the core of development in Swabia Province, with primary and tertiary industries serving only as important supplements. This is also the consensus of most provinces in East Africa at present.

Unfortunately, we are currently in the midst of a global economic crisis. Although East Africa has avoided the impact of the crisis on its own through government intervention, it does not currently support the blind expansion of industries.

Instead, under the coordination of the East African Central Government, each province develops its own advantageous industries according to local conditions.

The situation is similar in Swabia. It's not that Swabia is the only province in East Africa suitable for growing soybeans, but rather that Swabia has fewer suitable agricultural crops. Therefore, the East African government supports soybean cultivation in Swabia for economic coordination and regional economic balance.

Correspondingly, the expansion of soybean growing areas in Swabia means a reduction in soybean planting in other provinces, with other crops being planted instead.

In other words, the development of agriculture in East Africa is not entirely controlled by local governments. For example, in the United States, each state can grow whatever it wants. If everyone focuses on a particular crop, the yield of that crop may surge in the short term, eventually leading to overcapacity.

East Africa, through central government allocation and coordination of tasks, reduces blind expansion and chaotic competition in the agricultural sector, thereby preventing the outbreak of agricultural overproduction crises.

Of course, this is effective at the current stage. After all, government intervention is more effective in the context of the global agricultural crisis. In the future, East African governments will make relevant adjustments based on changes in the economic environment.

(End of this chapter)