Chapter 332: Rice Seeds
The East African government was deeply displeased with the Boers' covert support of the Ndebele people. Many—led by the hawkish Constantinoo—wanted to take immediate action against the Transvaal Republic. However, Ernst blocked them.
Ernst explained, "We must punish the Boers, but now isn't the time. If we push them too hard, they might ally with the British, and we'd be the ones in trouble. If we do move against the Boers, we must be fully prepared to wipe out the Transvaal Republic in one swift attack, leaving them no chance to respond. If we raise a fuss right now, they might run to Britain."
Ernst's thinking had historical precedent. In actual history, whenever the Boers were in trouble with the Zulus, they turned to the British for protection—even though the British had discreetly supported the Zulus. Eventually, large diamond and gold deposits were discovered in Boer territory, and the Boers naturally wanted to keep it all to themselves, while the British wanted a piece without having to pay. This dispute led to the Second Boer War. When pressed, the Boers generally knew which side to choose. Great Britain might be untrustworthy, but from the Boers' perspective, the East African Kingdom—an extremely feudal and authoritarian state—presented a more dire threat.
Ultimately, the East African Kingdom decided to prepare for war in secret. At year's end, they would abruptly question the Transvaal Republic's actions and then blitz the republic, giving them no time to react. Until then, they would keep quiet about the captured evidence of Boer support so as not to "alert the snake." The essence of the matter was whether the East Africans felt like launching an offensive or not.
Thus, after careful discussion, the East African government decided first to shift additional troops to the Matabele Plateau. Meanwhile, they would pretend to ignore the Boers' support for the Ndebele, continuing robust trade relations to lull the Boer leadership into complacency. At the same time, they would expand infiltration and intelligence gathering within the Boer Republic by leveraging trade networks and ties with any Germans there.
…
June – the harvest season for rice around the Great Lakes. In this region, rice harvest dates vary, but primarily fall between June and December. Currently, the Great Lakes region is East Africa's major rice-producing area—larger in scale than the eastern coastal plain, making it the country's biggest rice-producing base.
Like the coast, the Great Lakes area has ample rainfall and plenty of heat. But unlike the coastal plains of East Africa, the Great Lakes sit at higher altitudes, and temperatures are noticeably cooler; in places such as Uganda, nights can dip below 10°C. Consequently, the type of rice grown near the Great Lakes differs from the indica rice in the coastal plains. Instead, they use japonica varieties from East Asia. Compared with indica, japonica rice tolerates cold better and is more suitable for mid to high latitudes.
It might surprise some to see the Great Lakes region planted with rice seeds sourced from a faraway part of the Far East. Yet after studying many areas, East Africa's government concluded that the climate around the Great Lakes most closely resembles that of certain regions in the northeast of the Far East, from which they obtained the seeds. Admittedly, the Great Lakes aren't exactly like the northeast Far East, but summer temperatures there are somewhat similar, while rainfall is generally higher, and the soil also differs somewhat.
Rice is particularly sensitive to cold, and the East African highlands are typically about 10°C cooler than the coast. Some northern provinces in the Far East have summers comparable in temperature to the Great Lakes region. Indeed, planting in Liaodong might have been an option, but East Africa had no official presence there, and the Qing government closely guarded its "dragon-rise" territory. Hence, they looked elsewhere in the north.
"From our perspective so far, this rice strain from a place called Shanxi in the Far East grows best here. It's well suited for the Great Lakes, especially in the higher-elevation fields. When I surveyed last year's rice crop in West Great Lakes Province, I found fields that harvested greater total yields," said Marcus, an East African rice researcher, briefing officials of North Great Lakes Province.
Provincial official Brzezine asked, "Mr. Marcus, so you think we should expand this rice variety throughout the province next year?"
Marcus replied, "Yes, if you want better yield and quality. But I recommend keeping a few experimental plots of other varieties, because with ongoing development—especially improved pest and disease control—those might become worthwhile alternatives down the road."
Brzezine asked, "How does our rice here differ from what's grown along the East African coastal plains?"
Marcus answered, "Because it's cooler, our rice matures more slowly than along the coast. Both regions have comparable sunlight, but here the daily temperature swings are greater. From my experience in the Far East, that produces a grain with a plumper texture. Meanwhile, on the coast, we grow Indian long-grain rice, which is quite different. The Indian strain isn't bad, but which rice someone prefers depends on culinary habits and tastes."
Brzezine requested more specifics, so Marcus elaborated, "For example, the Middle East and India favor biryani and pilaf, eaten by hand. They need long, non-sticky grains. In the Far East, cooking usually means steaming short-grain rice with higher moisture content—soft and a bit sticky. That's terrible for people who eat by hand, but great if you use utensils. It's also hotter to the touch."
Marcus is one of East Africa's few specialists in rice agriculture, though he's only "second-rate." Before East Africa hired him, he'd been an intern at the Tropical Agriculture Institute studying a different subject, so "rice researcher" is a bit of a sideline for him.
His abilities are limited: collecting growth data on each variety, summarizing the results, and then presenting them to the government. East Africa's "policy" is simply importation—grabbing tested cultivars from abroad. With no top-notch breeding or hybrid experts themselves, they just figure out which foreign seeds produce the highest yields and best quality in various regions. Then they scale up planting accordingly, a perfect example of "adapt to the circumstances."
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