Chapter 508: Planning Agriculture
As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, you will not be worried. Although other constructions in Australasia are important, the most basic agricultural and animal husbandry development is absolutely indispensable.
As a current food exporter and livestock-producing country, Australasia's agriculture and animal husbandry have been developing relatively well.
However, under the premise of a growing population, the growth of agriculture and animal husbandry is also inevitable and necessary.
Last year, Australasia's cultivated land area reached 38.77 million acres, and grain production reached 18 million tons. Agriculture is very developed.
Even if grain production does not increase in the future, 18 million tons of grain production is enough for 20 million Australasia people to eat for more than three years.
However, food is absolutely a rigid demand worldwide, and it is not enough at any time.
Although it seems that Australasia is no longer short of food, looking at the world, which countries can fully meet domestic demand with food?
You know, a hundred years later in the 21st century, there have been frequent food crises and famines, and there are many countries suffering from poverty and hunger, not to mention now. It is not easy for the powerful countries to avoid food crises, let alone those poor countries in Asia and Africa.
Even in Russia, a powerful country currently in a civil war, whether the people in the country can eat enough is not to mention, it is good enough to have something to eat, who will care about the feelings of these people?
Food is one of the most important strategic materials at all times, this is beyond doubt.
Not to mention the huge profits brought by food exports to Arthur, the government and the people, the reason alone that the country has food and the people are not panic is worth Arthur continuing to increase the food production in Australasia.
With Arthur's support, Agriculture Minister Robert formulated a four-year food development plan that fits the four-year plan. It is expected that in the next four years, the cultivated land area and food production in Australasia will be increased to 42 million acres and 20 million tons respectively.
It is estimated that the annual cultivated land area will reach 807,500 acres. In view of the fact that the localization of colonies is already in full swing, and the most important way of development of major colonies is agricultural development.
Therefore, it is not difficult to add nearly 810,000 acres of cultivated land every year, which is completely acceptable to Australasia now.
In mid-August 1919, Arthur went to Australian Timor to check the localization of Australian Timor and visit the agricultural development of Timor.
After all, it is the template of colonial localization in Arthur's mind, and Arthur is still very concerned about Australian Timor.
The colonial localization policy of Australasia officially began this year, so it was also regarded by the new cabinet government as an opportunity to achieve political achievements.
As a pilot and template, Australian Timor has been invested heavily by the government.
The total area of Timor Island is as high as 30,777 square kilometers, which is actually not small.
In terms of products, Timor has wood: mahogany, blue dragon wood, sandalwood, eucalyptus, teak and bamboo; minerals: gold ore, copper, manganese, iron, gypsum, salt and oil fields; agricultural products: corn, rice, sweet potato, coconut, coffee, rubber, sugar cane and tea; pigs, sheep, cattle, horses and bees are raised, and there are also sea cucumbers, hawksbill turtles and pearls and other marine products. The products are very developed.
But there is a problem. Among all these products, the more valuable oil in Australasia is not lacking at present, and the oil fields in the Middle East should be developed first.
As for the remaining products, it can only be said that there are, but the competitiveness is not high. Compared with the more developed Australasia local area, there is actually not much advantage.
To become a local, not only must there be considerable development potential, but also the corresponding product scale.
Compared with other products that are not easy to develop, the cultivation of grain is definitely more cost-effective.
Timor has many products suitable for planting. Corn, rice, sweet potatoes, coconuts, coffee, sugarcane and tea can all be choices for agricultural development.
These products can also derive other industries, whether it is food or finished products, even if it is just animal feed made from crop stalks, it has a certain value for Australasia, a major livestock farming country.
Arthur focused on visiting Timor's coffee plantations and large farms.
In Western habits, coffee is still very important, far more than tea from Asia.
Even in Arthur's palace, although there are all kinds of drinks, except for red wine, the most consumed is coffee.
Although Arthur can personally promote tea, Australasia is not a major tea producer. Isn't this a wedding dress for other countries in vain?
You know, the most common perception of tea among Westerners is not the orthodox green tea, but the black tea cultivated in India.
If there is a tea fever in Europe, it is likely to be black tea, not green tea.
This is equivalent to making a wedding dress for India. Although Arthur's relationship with the British royal family has been restored, it is not so good that he would give the interests of his country's people to the British Empire for free.
Timor's current grain production is as high as 77,000 tons, enough for 150,000 people.
Timor's current population has just exceeded 120,000, and it is completely no problem for the island to achieve food self-sufficiency.
But this is based on the premise that Timor's population has not suddenly increased.
The problem is that as a pilot for the localization of the Australasian colony, Timor's population will definitely increase suddenly in the next short period of time.
This surge has even begun. The current population of Timor has increased by more than 10,000 people in a short period of time. This is the previous population growth rate of Timor in one year.
Although it is difficult for a colony like Timor to attract immigrants, if there is strong support from the government, the source of immigrants is still no problem.
After all, Timor’s current per capita cultivated land area is as high as 3 acres, far exceeding the current situation of less than 2 acres per capita in Australasia.
The immigration conditions provided by the Timorese government are also very good. As long as you are willing to live permanently in Timor, you can obtain at least 4 acres of farmland and arrange free accommodation.
The current agricultural income in Australasia is about A$15 per acre. This also means that as long as you have 4 acres of cultivated land, your annual income will remain at least A$60, which is far higher than that in Australasia. Per capita annual income.
Moreover, immigrants who are unwilling to engage in agriculture can also choose to give up farmland. The colonial government will arrange jobs for the immigrants to ensure that the income of the immigrants is at least maintained at the per capita income level.
This is still very attractive to some immigrants who cannot find jobs in their home countries.
After all, the per capita income level in Australasia is not low, and there is no problem in working hard to support a family.
Basically, as long as two people in a family of three work, food and clothing for the whole family is not a problem.
As long as all three people have jobs, their income is definitely above average compared to European countries.
To be honest, Arthur was very satisfied when he saw the vast sea of plants in Timor with his own eyes.
Although the scale is not large, after all, the cultivated land area is measured in units of 10,000 acres, so it still looks very spectacular.
In particular, the cultivated land in Timor is basically planned. Large areas of cultivated land are connected together, and all of them are large-scale farms, and the visual effect is even more outstanding.
"Minister Robert, what figure can Timor's grain production reach this year?" Looking at the large field of crops in front of him, Arthur was in a good mood and asked the Agriculture Minister Robert who was one step behind.
"Your Majesty." Minister Robert immediately and respectfully replied: "Currently, Timor's cultivated land area has reached 3.7 acres per capita, and the total cultivated land area is approximately 440,000 acres. According to our estimates of Timor's grain output last year, Timor's total cultivated land area this year has reached 3.7 acres. The grain output should reach about 95,000 tons, an increase of at least 23.5%.”
This is actually a conservative estimate based on last year's grain production, and Minister Robert did not exaggerate. After all, if he brags about it but fails to realize it, Arthur will be punished.
Under Arthur's leadership, the Australasian government has always adhered to an efficient and pragmatic attitude, and put an end to exaggerating political achievements and making blind promises.
Especially for some officials who only talk words but do nothing, the supervision of the House of Representatives is no joke.
Arthur nodded silently, quite satisfied with what Minister Robert said.
The first is the increase in cultivated land area, which has increased from just over 3 acres per capita to 3.7 acres. The data can already reflect the efforts of the Timorese government in cultivating land.
However, compared with the developed mainland of Australasia, Timor's land production is still relatively small.
This requires a period of use and fertilization before the productivity of the land increases.
The current scale of Timor's cultivated land can meet the needs of Timor's population before it rises to 500,000, which is good for Timor's development.
After all, as a region that has decided to mainly develop agriculture, if it cannot achieve self-sufficiency in food, how can it develop agriculture?
"What's Timor's population situation this year?" After confirming Timor's rapid agricultural development, Arthur focused on Timor's population.
"Your Majesty, the current population of Timor is estimated to be around 123,000 people. By the end of this year, it will grow to about 140,000-150,000 people. If there are no problems in the future, Timor's population can be reduced within the four-year development plan. Increase it to about 300,000 people, thereby completely realizing the localization of Timor," Philippe, the Minister of People's Livelihood, quickly stepped forward and replied.
The population size of 300,000 people is indeed not low, especially for an island area with an area of only 30,000 square kilometers.
This is not the future, and Australasia does not have a sufficient population base. Timor's population can achieve such growth because of the government's efforts.
But given Australasia a hundred years to develop, judging from the current population growth rate, it is absolutely not a problem for Australasia's population to exceed 200-300 million.
"How are the work and accommodation arrangements for the new immigrants?" Arthur asked next.
The increase in immigration is certainly a good thing, but the food, clothing, housing and transportation of immigrants must also be carefully arranged.
No matter where these immigrants come from, after they permanently reside in Australasia and obtain nationality, they are citizens of Australasia and enjoy the protection of the law.
The government also needs to pay full attention to the needs of these people and try to meet them.
In particular, new immigrants have a lot of demand for housing, which must be met. After all, only by giving immigrants a place to live can they better devote themselves to work and life.
At present, most of the Timorese government's solutions to immigrants' housing needs are based on Australasian methods.
The first is to build low-cost housing and rent it to these new immigrants at relatively low prices.
No matter which type of housing, the rent for the first three months will be reduced or directly exempted to reduce the burden on new immigrants.
The second type of housing is a characteristic of the Australian region, that is, wooden houses.
Australia produces eucalyptus, and eucalyptus wood is also Australia's key export wood.
Eucalyptus is highly applicable and has the advantages of fast growth, good stem shape, and wide application. Eucalyptus can be used in industries such as pulp and paper, wood-based panels and construction, and its economic value is still good.
Although it looks a bit numerous and more suitable for planting, eucalyptus also has a relatively large disadvantage, that is, it consumes water resources extremely.
This can only be a disadvantage in other regions, which is completely acceptable compared to the economic value of eucalyptus.
But for countries such as Australasia that are extremely short of water resources, the shortcomings of eucalyptus will be infinitely magnified, which is fatal.
But what's more deadly is that Australasia is the country of origin and main production area of eucalyptus. Most of the trees in Australia are eucalyptus, which wastes a lot of water resources in Australia every year, especially in Australia.
In order to solve this situation, under the promotion of Arthur, Australia has set off a wave of wooden house fever, and wooden houses made of eucalyptus templates have also been welcomed by most people.
Arthur's plan is to replace all the eucalyptus trees in Australia with trees that do not waste much water resources in a certain period of time.
Although the value of eucalyptus is still good, it is better to forget it for the relatively water-scarce areas of Australia.
However, for areas such as Timor, New Guinea and New Zealand, the planting of eucalyptus can be maintained.
After all, Australasia is the country of origin of eucalyptus, and we cannot watch eucalyptus completely disappear in Australia. Biodiversity must still exist.
It is also thanks to these eucalyptus trees that Australasia is not short of wood. Whether it is the cost of building wooden houses or the cost of wood and other wood products, the wood cut down by Australasia every year is enough.
Of course, after cutting down the eucalyptus, the government will also organize people to plant other trees, and the replacement of tree species can be basically completed within 20-30 years.
Although the green environment in Australasia is relatively healthy, Arthur still attaches great importance to the ecological environment.
The newly built capital, Fort St. Arthur, takes greening into consideration.
It can be said that Fort St. Arthur is definitely one of the cities with the largest green area in Australia, and the air will definitely be very fresh at that time.
Of course, the current green area of Sydney Palace is actually quite large. Although the air in Sydney can only be considered good, the air quality in the palace is definitely two levels higher.
Breathing fresh air every year, no matter what, the mood will always be much better.
Moreover, fresh air is good for both physical and mental health, which is also a good thing for members of the royal family.
Arthur does not want to see Sydney become a new foggy city. Arthur has experienced the air quality in London. The feeling of suffocation cannot be given by masks.
If it were not for his attention to the UK, Arthur would even plan to wear a mask at any time in London.
Unfortunately, this is unrealistic. After all, members of the royal family do not wear masks when they meet. Regardless of whether Arthur is different or not, this behavior also seems to be a lack of attention to the British royal family and other royal families.
This is actually an important reason why Arthur is unwilling to stay in London. If you stay in London for a long time, your life expectancy will definitely be much lower than that of other people. This is also the reason why Australasia tries to avoid air pollution.
With cheap housing and wooden houses, Timor's immigrant housing needs have been mostly met.
For some immigrants with small assets, the Timorese government will also build some villas or real apartment buildings and sell them to those who want to buy.
Because of the current restrictions on housing prices by the Australasia government, coupled with a large number of cheap houses, there is no housing speculation in Australasia.
After all, the house you have worked hard to buy may not appreciate much in ten years, and may even offset the old house, which will become an uneconomical deal.
"Timor's localization is the most important step in our colonial localization strategy, and it also determines whether our designated colonial localization policy can be successful and whether it is suitable for full implementation. All departments must fully cooperate with Timor's actions and strive to see results within four years, so as to steadily promote it throughout the country." Arthur is still satisfied with this inspection trip to Timor.
Therefore, the summary is more of an encouragement to the ministers and the Timorese government.
As he said that, Arthur looked at the Governor-General of Timor, Frank Weir, and ordered: "Governor Frank, report to me about the situation in Timor every two months, and consult the cabinet government if there are any problems."
"The localization of Timor is necessary and will definitely succeed. The Timorese colonial government should not slack off, as this is related to the development of the entire country." Arthur asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty! Please rest assured that I will do my supervisory responsibilities and report to you on time." Governor-General of Timor Frank nodded and assured Arthur.
As the governor appointed by Arthur himself, Governor Frank's ability and loyalty are naturally beyond doubt.
Arthur is still very relieved to leave the development of Timor to Frank.
Even when Timor's localization is completed in the future, Frank and the Timorese colonial government will smoothly transform into the state government directly under Timor. While the level remains unchanged, their own power and status will still be improved to a certain extent.
After all, Timor was just a small colony with a population of tens of thousands before, but if localization is successful, Timor will be a direct state of Australasia anyway, and the governor's power and status in the government are still not small.
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