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It does have a lot to do with soybeans. To Quote "Radio Free Europe": "Deputy Agriculture Minister Arman Yevniev, in an interview with RFE/ RL's Kazakh Service, shed light on the state of discussions on the issue. "It's obvious the discussions are about China's need for agricultural products like soybeans. Their annual imports come to some 40 million tons, and the tendency is toward an increase of these volumes every year," Yevniev said. "Regarding our zone in south Kazakhstan, the steppe of south Kazakhstan and Zhambyl provinces, if this land were effectively cultivated, [soybeans] could grow there." — The square bracket insert is by the editor/translator, not me. Other articles have referred to soybean cultivation. I guess the area is particularly suited for soybeans. Other articles have mentioned the Chinese overtures to Kazakhstan. See in addition <http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/KL24Ag04.html> By the way, the wording of the Radio Free Europe article and part of the article by M K Bhadrakumar suggests a common source. To keep a little perspective, the US has roughly 30 million hectares devoted to soybeans, so clearly the Chinese 1 million hectare effort will be an experiment. The U.S. produced 80 million metric tons on that land (2.66 metric tons/hectare), of which about 18 million metric tons goes to China (projected for 2009). With 2.66 metric tons per hectare, China could produce 14% of their imports from the U.S. on Kazakhstan's 1 million hectares. 7 million hectares in Kazakhstan would completely replace U.S. imports. But 7 million hectares is a plot of land of Texan proportions: a square 164 miles on a side. But then again, looking at Kansas, there are lots of 164 mile squares. --rod On Jan 1, 2010, at 11:47 AM, nada wrote: > ====================================================================== > Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > ====================================================================== > > > I highly recommend the article linked to by Rod. And not because it > has > a thing to do with soy beans. The article points to a request to the > Kazakh state to 'rent' millions of acres and bring in a million so > Chinese peasants to do work it. This is a huge political issue, > apparently. > > David > > ________________________________________________ > Send list submissions to: [email protected] > Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/ > marxism/rholt%40planeteria.net ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
