Ernst has always valued this kind of sparsely populated area, because it also means greater plasticity, and Luzon, which is the core of the Philippines and an area that Spain has long integrated, is not interested in it.

Of course, the evil actors still have to be done by the Americans, and although East Africa has some intentions against the Philippines, it has not delayed the friendly relations between the two countries at all.

Just like in this visit, Ernst put Spain last, which represented importance, and Alfonso XII enjoyed the feeling of being respected.

Now Spain is still a famous world power, but like Portugal, the national fortunes have been declining, but it is much stronger than Portugal, after all, the local area is large enough, and it also has a great foundation in Europe.

……

Northern Province.

In order for the "Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan" to be carried out smoothly, the governments of the Northern Province and Juba Province are bound to join hands to develop synergistically, improve regional productivity and release the industrial advantages of the two provinces, so the two sides have held consultations in Mogadishu.

"In the Somali region, we have obvious advantages in developing an export-oriented agricultural economy, but we also face greater risks, the most threatening to agriculture is the threat of desert locusts, and our northern provinces and Juba provinces are important sources of this locust.

Therefore, in order to ensure the healthy development of agriculture in the region and the stability of fiscal revenue, it is necessary to work the control of locusts, and this is not only the responsibility of our northern province, but also has a major connection with Juba province. ”

"Desert locusts are the most important agricultural hazard in Somalia, and we all agree on this in both provinces, and locust plagues occur every year, but the scale is within a manageable range, except for the last time when the northern part of Somalia spread to our territory."

"Therefore, in response to this cross-border 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 regularly inspect the breeding of desert locusts, and once a problem is found, the danger should be nipped in the bud at any time."

Desert locusts are widespread in northeastern East Africa, along the northern coast of Somalia, along the Red Sea coast, and in the Arabian Peninsula.

Of course, East Africa happens to be the main activity area of desert locusts, otherwise, East Africa would not have bothered to control desert locusts at all.

It would be a waste of energy to govern here and fly from next door, and the desert locusts of the Arabian Peninsula mainly like to fly eastward, and the rest will cross the Red Sea to East Africa, but in this way most of their energy is also consumed, and East Africa can minimize the risk by doing a little defensive measures.

"The two provinces are in the Somali region, and the two pest control centers are not easy to do, because the border between the northern province and Juba province is so long, if we shirk each other's responsibilities, if the locusts multiply on a large scale at the provincial border, they will eventually drag everyone into the water, so the agriculture-related agencies of the two provinces should communicate more, establish smooth information exchange channels, or go further, and work together."

This matter has been decided in this way, and it is within their respective powers anyway, so they are not afraid of causing trouble.

"There is also the problem of cash crops in our Somali region, and now the two most popular crops in Somalia are in addition to cotton, that is, bananas, although the economic value of the two crops is high, but only these two crops are retained, the risk is also large, and it does not meet the definition of the 'Eurasian Fruit Basket Plan', the fruit basket, the fruit basket, can not only have bananas in the basket, then it will become the 'Eurasian Banana Plan'." said the Director General of the Juba Provincial Department of Agriculture.

"I also agree with this, single crops are the least resistant to pests and diseases, and if they occur, they can cause irreparable damage, and the enrichment of fruits, vegetables and flowers is one of our plans in Somalia." Not to be outdone, the director of the Northern Provincial Department of Agriculture is not to be outdone.

Of course, this is not enough, after all, this is a bit of a feeling of picking people's teeth, so he further proposed: "In this point, we East Africa has a great disadvantage, especially in terms of selection and breeding, species categories, after all, East Africa has a short history, and there is a lack of relevant agricultural talents, so it is difficult to achieve results in a short period of time, and we should also learn more local experience and lessons." ”

As he spoke, he took out a handful of gray bully from his pocket, which didn't look very good, and put it on the table.

"Director Antonio, what is this?"

"It's a local agricultural crop, and you may not have paid attention to this little thing, it's a plant that is very popular with the local aborigines, called oil sedge."

"This is the fruit of the oil sedge?"

"To be precise, it's a fruit that grows in the ground like a peanut."

"So what's the use of it?"

"In addition to eating, the most important thing is that it can be used to extract oil, and the leaves of this plant can also be used as pasture." Antonio said.

Then he began to introduce the advantages of oil sedge: "As an oil crop, it is not only high-quality and high-yielding, but also has a high comprehensive utilization value. More importantly, it is very suitable for survival in saline-alkali land, which is similar to many places in our Somali region, its good resistance to stress, strong ability to resist external adverse factors, resistance to salinity, less pests and diseases, less cost of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, high yield, the yield per mu can reach hundreds of kilograms, the minimum is not less than 300 kilograms, the yield of one mu of oil beans is equivalent to several acres of other oil crops. ”

The oil yield of oil sedge is quite average, but its yield per mu is high, so it makes oil sedge more economical.

"Of course, I would like to emphasize that this crop is very resistant to pests and diseases, and the fruit grows in the ground, so it will not be lost in the face of locust plagues."

The fact that the oil sedge emits a special chemical with a delicate fragrance and actually has an insect repellent effect is not clear in East Africa, but the indigenous people here have thousands of years of cultivation experience, so it is not difficult to draw this conclusion.

"In that case, why haven't we seen the locals planting on a large scale before?" Someone asked.

Antonio replied, "Have you ever seen large-scale farming in Africa before us?" Especially in pastoral areas like Somalia, other land is also dominated by wheat and other foods. ”

However, as soon as the conversation changed, Antonio also said: "There are many advantages of oil sedge, but it is not without disadvantages, for example, his fruit is not easy to receive compared with other crops, this plant has a particularly strong tillering power, and the fruit is a little smaller than peanuts, and it is more troublesome to harvest, but we don't have to worry about planting this crop in two Somali provinces, the soil in Somalia is mainly sandy, and the soil is relatively soft, and I have designed a tool with the craftsmen of Mogadishu to mine this crop. When the time comes, the efficiency can be greatly improved. ”

There is another point that Antonio did not say, that is, the fruit of the oil sedge is more difficult to dehydrate than other oil crops, and it needs to be dried in the sun for a long time, but if this problem occurs in other areas, it is indeed easy to cause the fruit to deteriorate.

However, Somalia has less precipitation, more sunny days, and a dry climate, but there is no such problem, and oil sedge requires less chemical fertilizer, high yield, and good oil quality, which is considered an oil crop tailored for the Somali region.

(End of chapter)