#Is sugarcane plantation profitable?

[farmerstrend]

Sugarcane Farming In Kenya, its importance, challenges, and opportunities.

Sugarcane farming is an important sector of agriculture in Kenya, contributing significantly to the country’s economy. In this article, we will discuss the history of sugarcane farming in Kenya, its importance, challenges, and opportunities. History of sugarcane farming in Kenya Sugarcane farming in Kenya can be traced back to the 1920s when sugarcane was first introduced in the country. The…

[flagellant]

hey so, I understand if this is out of your wheelhouse, but have you found anything to suggest why Kikkomen is always the brand of soy sauce you find in restaurants? I can't stand the stuff, but I also can't escape those little pour jars of it.

It's because Kikkoman was one of the first soy brewing companies to exist in Japan, to organize and to unify its brand image nationally, and then was able to profit off of the Dutch port and the first-year immigrants to Hawaii from Japan who were treated horrendously on 3-year contract sugarcane plantations, and THEN was able to work directly with the American government for its postwar soy formulas and therefore had a great reputation to start exporting agaun to San Francisco in 1957 once sakoku was fully abolished. From there it fucked over Japanese Americans for not being Japanese enough, did a PR/propaganda stunt that fucked over non-Kikkoman competitors by claiming they weren't Japanese enough AND were also TOO Japanese, and from there it's been expanding ever since as the iconic name brand soy sauce internationally by using that image of it as the apparent gold standard despite anyone who knows anything about shoyu thinking it's shit.

Kikkoman has become an empire by basically making itself into the foreigner's soy sauce. You can read all this in a specific thesis paper I'll link when I get back home from being out. Interestingly, the Kikkoman capitol of America is no longer San Francisco.

It's a town in Wisconsin. Wanna guess what the name of the town is?

I'll give you a hint: It starts with an A, and it ends with an N.

[kavyaorganicfarm]

9 Major Types of Farming in India

Title: Exploring the 9 Major Types of Farming in India

India, known for its vast agricultural landscape, boasts a diverse range of farming practices due to its varied climate, topography, and cultural heritage. From traditional methods passed down through generations to modernized techniques, Indian agriculture represents a rich tapestry of farming types. Here, we delve into nine major types of farming prevalent across the country:

Subsistence Farming: Commonly practiced in rural India, subsistence farming focuses on producing enough food to meet the needs of the farmer and their family. This type of farming relies heavily on traditional methods and is prevalent in regions with small landholdings. Crops grown include rice, wheat, pulses, and vegetables.

Commercial Farming: In contrast to subsistence farming, commercial farming involves cultivating crops or rearing livestock primarily for sale in the market. It often utilizes modern technologies, machinery, and irrigation systems to maximize productivity and profitability. Cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, tea, and coffee are cultivated in large-scale commercial farms across states like Maharashtra, Punjab, and Karnataka.

Organic Farming: With an increasing emphasis on sustainable and eco-friendly practices, organic farming has gained popularity in recent years. This method eschews synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, focusing instead on natural inputs and techniques such as crop rotation and composting. States like Sikkim have emerged as pioneers in organic farming, promoting biodiversity and soil health.

Horticulture: Horticulture encompasses the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants. India's diverse agro-climatic zones offer ideal conditions for growing a wide range of horticultural crops. States like Himachal Pradesh are renowned for their apple orchards, while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh excel in the production of mangoes and bananas.

Aquaculture: With its extensive coastline and network of rivers, India has a thriving aquaculture industry. Fish farming, shrimp cultivation, and freshwater prawn farming are common practices in states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Kerala. Aquaculture not only provides a source of protein but also generates employment opportunities in coastal communities.

Dairy Farming: India is the world's largest milk producer, and dairy farming plays a crucial role in its agricultural economy. Traditional dairy farming, often associated with small-scale operations, coexists with modern dairy enterprises equipped with milking machines and cold storage facilities. States like Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana are major contributors to India's dairy output, with indigenous cattle breeds like Gir and Sahiwal prized for their milk yield.

Poultry Farming: Poultry farming involves the rearing of chickens, ducks, and other birds for meat and egg production. It is a significant contributor to India's protein supply and rural livelihoods. While traditional backyard poultry farming is prevalent, commercial poultry farms equipped with automated systems and biosecurity measures are becoming increasingly common, particularly in states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Sericulture: Sericulture, or silk farming, is an ancient practice that thrives in certain regions of India. The cultivation of silkworms for the production of silk involves meticulous care and management of mulberry plantations. Karnataka, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir are notable sericulture hubs, producing high-quality silk that caters to domestic and international markets.

Agroforestry: Agroforestry integrates trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes, offering multiple benefits such as soil conservation, biodiversity conservation, and additional income streams for farmers. It involves the deliberate cultivation of tree species alongside crops or livestock. States like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha promote agroforestry as a sustainable land-use practice, supporting rural livelihoods and environmental conservation efforts.

In conclusion, the agricultural sector in India is characterized by a remarkable diversity of farming practices, each tailored to the specific ecological and socio-economic contexts of different regions. From traditional subsistence farming to modern commercial enterprises, Indian agriculture continues to evolve, driven by innovation, technology adoption, and a deep-rooted connection to the land.

[efrost]

Global Crop Protection Chemicals Market Growing Popularity and Emerging Trends in the Industry Analysis by Key Players

Global Crop Protection Chemicals Market Report from AMA Research highlights deep analysis on market characteristics, sizing, estimates and growth by segmentation, regional breakdowns & country along with competitive landscape, players market shares, and strategies that are key in the market. The exploration provides a 360° view and insights, highlighting major outcomes of the industry. These insights help the business decision-makers to formulate better business plans and make informed decisions to improved profitability. In addition, the study helps venture or private players in understanding the companies in more detail to make better informed decisions. Major Players in This Report IncludeBASF SE (Germany)

The Dow Chemical Company (United States)

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (United States)

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (Japan)

Syngenta AG (Switzerland)

Arysta LifeScience Corporation (United States)

American Vanguard Corporation (United States)

Bayer CropScience AG (Germany)

Lanxess Aktiengesellschaft (Germany)

FMC Corporation (United States)

Crop protection chemicals are the chemicals widely used to help in managing and minimizing plant diseases, weeds as well as other pests which damage agricultural crops. These chemicals also benefit from growing and maintaining crop yield over the years. Various types of crop protection are herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, among others. Previously, farmers use to control the infestation of insects & fungi inorganic compounds including arsenic and mercury salts. Presently, various chemicals are available for protecting crops from getting damaged by rodents, birds, insects, as well as bacteria, etc. Development in farming practices and technology, as well as the growing need for food security due to the rise in population, are the growth driving factors for the global crop protection chemicals market. Market Drivers  Development in Farming Practices and Technology

Growing Need for Food Security Due to the Rise in Population

Heavy Crop Loss Owing to Pest Attacks

Market Trend 

Opportunities  Speedy Growth in the Biopesticides Market as well as Organic Agriculture

High Opportunities in Developing Nations

Challenges  Evolution of Biotechnology & Growing Acceptance of GM Crops as an Substitute to Crop Protection Chemicals

The Crop Protection Chemicals market study is being classified by Type (Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides, Acaricides, Nematicides, Rodenticides, Disinfectants, Fumigants, Mineral Oils, Others), Crop Type (Cereals & Oilseeds, Fruits & Vegetables, Others (Sugarcane,Plantation Crops,Turfs & Ornamentals)), Mode of Application (Foliar spray, Seed treatment, Soil treatment, Others (Chemigation and Fumigation)), Basis of Origin (Synthetic, Biopesticides), Basis of Form (Liquid, Solid) Presented By

AMA Research & Media LLP

[whatdoeschronicevenmean]

Open Veins of Latin America Ch 2

Ch 2: King Sugar and Other Agricultural Monarchs

The demand for sugar produced the plantation, an enterprise motivated by its proprietor's desire for profit and placed at the service of the international market Europe was organizing. Internally, however since it was to a considerable extent self-sufficient-the plantation was feudal in many important aspects, and its labor force consisted mainly of slaves. Thus three distinct historical periods-mercantilism, feudalism, slavery-were combined in a single socioeconomic unit. But in the constellation of power developed by the plantation system, the international market soon took the center of the stage. (60)

The plantation was so structured as to make it, in effect, a sieve for the draining-off of natural wealth, and today the latifundio functions in the same way. Each region, once integrated into the world market, experiences a dynamic cycle; then decay sets in with the competition of substitute products, the exhaustion of the soil, or the development of other areas where conditions are better. The initial productive drive fades with the passing years into a culture of poverty, subsistence economy, and lethargy. The Northeast was Brazil's richest area and is now its poorest; in Barbados and Haiti human antheaps live condemned to penury; in Cuba sugar became the master key for U. S. domination, at the price of monoculture and the relentless impoverishment of the soil. And this has not been the role of sugar alone: the story has been the same with cacao, which made the fortunes of the Caracas Oligarchy; with the spectacular rise and fail of cotton in Maranho; with the Amazonian rubber plantations, which became the cemeteries of Northeastern workers recruited for a few pennies; with the devastated quebracho forests in northern Argentina and Paraguay; with Yucatan's henequen plantations, where Yaqui Indians were sent for extermination. It is also the story of coffee, which advances leaving deserts behind it, and of the fruit plantations in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and the unhappy lands of Central America. Each product has come to embody the fate of countries, regions, and peoples; and mineral-producing communities have, of course, traveled the same melancholy road. (61)

Sugar had destroyed the Northeast. The humid coastal fringe, well watered by rains, had a soil of great fertility, rich in humus and mineral salts and covered by forests from Bahia to Ceara. This region of tropical forests was turned into a region of savannas. Naturally fitted to produce food, it became a place of hunger. Where everything had bloomed exuberantly, the destructive and all-dominating latifundio left sterile rock, washed-out soil, eroded lands. At first there had been orange and mango plantations, but these were left to their fate, or reduced to small orchards surrounding the sugar mill-owner's house, reserved exclusively for the family of the white planter. Fire was used to clear land for canefields, devastating the fauna along with the flora: deer, wild boar, tapir, rabbit, pacas, and armadillo disappeared. All was sacrificed on the altar of sugarcane monoculture. (62)

The sugar latifundio, a structure built on waste, must still import food from other areas, particularly from the center and south, at escalating prices. The cost of living in Recife is the highest in Brazil, well above Rio de Janeiro. Beans cost more in the Northeast than in Ipanema, the capital city's most luxurious beach resort. (64)

The United States lowered import duties on Cuban sugar in exchange for similar privileges for U.S. exports to Cuba, but such "favors" only consolidated Cuba's dependence. By 1948 Cuba had recovered its quota to the point of supplying one-third of the U.S. sugar market, at prices lower than U.S. producers received but higher and more stable than those in the international market. Sugar production was arbitrarily limited by Washington's needs. The 1925 level of some 5 million tons remained the average through the 1950s; dictator Fulgencio Batista took power in 1952 on the heels of the biggest harvest in Cuban history--over 7 million tons--with the mission of tightening the screws, and in the following year production, obedient to the demand in the north, fell to 4 million tons.( The director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's sugar program declared soon after the Revolution: “Since Cuba has left the scene, we cannot count on that country, the world's biggest exporter, which always had enough reserves to supply our market when need arose.”7) When Batista fell in 1959, Cuba was selling almost all its sugar to the United States. As Marti said and Che Guevara quoted at the OAS Punta del Este conference in 1961, "The nation that buys commands, the nation that sells serves; it is necessary to balance trade in order to ensure freedom; the country that wants to die sells only to one country, and the country that wants to survive sells to more than one.” (70-1)

[philippinerevolution]

125 years of persevering struggle for national freedom

In commemorating the recent 125th year of the declaration of false Philippine independence, let us look back to the Filipino people’s more than a century history of resistance to colonialism and semicolonialism and reaffirm our commitment to struggle for genuine freedom and democracy.

The declaration of freedom “under the protection of Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, the United States of America” was made by representatives of the landlord-illustrado class who rode on the victories of the Katipunan armed revolution against the 300-year Spanish colonial rule. In truth, Spain had already secretly agreed with the US before staging the mock Battle of Manila Bay of October 1898 and the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898 under which the Philippines was sold for $20 million.

Hundreds of thousands of American troops were deployed to suppress and colonize the Philippines. More than a decade of brutal war against revolutionary forces—denigrated as “bandits” and “insurrectionists”—was carried out. Not less than 200,000 Filipino civilians were killed by American soldiers, and more than a million (of a population of less than seven million) died as a result of the US war of aggression.

The US employed overwhelming force to rampage through the Philippines, suppress the people and plunder the country’s wealth. Millions of trees were felled, hundreds of thousands of land taken from peasants and indigenous people to dig for gold and other minerals, and turn into plantations of sugarcane, pineapples and other crops for export to the US. The US colonized and controlled the minds of Filipinos by imposing an educational system that favor the US to erase the people’s memories of their just fight for freedom and imprint the thought of “benevolent assimilation” under US colonialism. The US produced a new generation of bureaucrat capitalists trained in “US democracy” to represent US power and the combined interests of the ruling classes of bourgeois compradors and the old landlord class.

Instead of being suppressed, the spirit of patriotism of Filipino workers and toiling people were further inflamed. At the outset and following decades, they organized and waged mass struggles for freedom. They clamored “death to US imperialism!” Since being established in 1930, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP-Philippine Islands) played a crucial role in leading the struggle for national freedom from US colonial rule.

Amid inter-imperialist conflict, the US abandoned the Philippines to colonial Japan. Led by the CPP, an anti-Japanese guerrilla war was waged by the Filipino people to establish revolutionary power in Central Luzon and other parts of the country. Like in China and other countries, the guerrilla forces crushed the Japanese invaders. Before the complete surrender of the beaten Japanese forces (as were the Spanish in 1898), the US forces returned and relentlessly bombed and devastated Manila (like the mock Battle of Manila Bay) to force the country to its knees. Together with its puppet armed forces (predecessor of the Armed Forces of the Philippines), the US carried out a campaign of armed suppression of guerrilla forces marked by massacres and brutal murders.

To placate the Filipino people, the US granted nominal independence on July 4, 1946 to turn over the reins of administration of the client-state to the ruling class parties and politicos. For close to 80 years now, the country has been under neocolonial or semicolonial rule. Philippine politics, economy, military and culture remains dominated by the US. Through semicolonial rule, the US plundered trillions of dollars through unequal trade and investment relations reinforced by treaties favoring the US. The policy of cheap labor was imposed to allow maximum profits for US and foreign capitalists. Economic policies of puppet Philippine governments are dictated by the US through the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other US-controlled banks and agencies, to the detriment of the Philippine economy and livelihood. The US reinforces cultural domination through a pro-US educational system, control of mass media and other agencies that promote a pro-US mentality and viewpoint.

The US perpetuates armed domination of the Philippines through military agreements as the Mutual Defense Treaty, the 1946-1991 Military Bases Agreement, the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement and the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. The US established the AFP as the main pillar of its rule in the country. It has since been used for the armed suppression of the Filipino people and their struggle for national and social liberation.

Amid the economic crisis of the US and other capitalist countries, there is push to further tighten US grip of the Philippines. Together with strengthening armed presence in the Philippines, the US is aggressively claiming control of natural resources and business operations in the country to expand plantations and mines resulting in economic dislocation of millions of Filipinos. The people today suffer from the deleterious effects of decades of neoliberal policy dictates of the US: widespread unemployment, low wages, lack of income, rising prices, decrepit social services, land grabbing, and environmental destruction. The country is at the precipice of a financial crisis marked by rising public debt and falling revenue due to corporate tax incentives, and rising costs of maintaining a bloated military and police. The US rush to construct more military bases and facilities across the Philippines, especially in the northern parts, as part of its strategy to encircle China, further underscores the country’s lack of sovereignty and puts it in danger of being pulled into a war between imperialist giants.

Since it was established in 1969, the Communist Party of the Philippines has been at the forefront of the struggle for national freedom and democracy. It has waged people’s war since 1969, and will persevere however long it takes to free the country from the clutches of US imperialism.

The Party, all revolutionary forces and the entire Filipino people are ready to shoulder the difficult tasks to advance the nation’s struggle to drive away the imperialist monster and attain the Motherland’s desire for freedom. With firm resolve, let us tread the path of resistance, however arduous and difficult, because it is the only path towards a bright and prosperous future.

[todaysfarming]

TODAY'S FARMING

INTRODUCTION

India is one of the major players in the agriculture sector worldwide and it is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s population. India has the world's largest cattle herd (buffaloes), largest area planted to wheat, rice, and cotton, and is the largest producer of milk, pulses, and spices in the world. It is the second-largest producer of fruit, vegetables, tea, farmed fish, cotton, sugarcane, wheat, rice, cotton, and sugar. Agriculture sector in India holds the record for second-largest agricultural land in the world generating employment for about half of the country’s population. Thus, farmers become an integral part of the sector to provide us with means of sustenance. Consumer spending in India will return to growth in 2021 post the pandemic-led contraction, expanding by as much as 6.6%. The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32% of the country’s total food market, one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.

Modern Farming Techniques in India

Primitive Farming - One of the oldest techniques in India, primitive farming is practiced in small farms with traditional instruments like a hoe, digging sticks, etc. Farmers depend upon soil fertility, environmental conditions and other factors like heat for the harvest. This method is usually employed by those who use the output for their consumption. This technique is also called “Slash and Burn” farming where farmers burn the land once the crops have been harvested.

Subsistence Farming - Cultivation takes places across wide and larger land areas with two types of crops : wet and dry. Wet crops include paddy and dry crops grown are wheat, maize and pulses. This method demands extensive use of chemical fertilizers and different methods of irrigation.

Commercial Farming - This technique is a modern day farming method where the farmers use a variety of new-age tools for surplus profits. Insecticides and fertilizers are also used because the crops grown are spread across large patches of land. It contributes a great percentage to the country’s GDP. While farmers in Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal practice commercial farming techniques, farmers of Orissa continue to prefer subsistence farming for large productions.

Plantation Farming - It is another subset of commercial farming. It makes use of both labor and technology to ensure the process is sustainable as plantations are spread across huge patches of land. It includes both agriculture and industry because of the nature of the crops grown.

MODERN FARMING METHODS IN INDIA

Aeroponics System

Aeroponics is the process where plants are grown in the air or mist environment without the use of soil. It is the subset of hydroponics, and suspends the plant root in the air to work. Farmers, by using this method will have better control over the amount of water to use.

Aquaponics System

Aquaponics is a closed-loop system that relies majorly on the symbiotic relationship between aquaculture and agriculture for fertilization. This farming method combines conventional aquaculture with hydroponics.

Hydroponics System

The hydroponics method is a less-soil type of farming, and it doesn't require any type of soil. The process involves growing healthy plants without the inclusion of solid medium using nutrients including water solution which is mineral-rich. Hydroponic farming is the subset of hydroculture, and the nutrients used in hydroponic farming systems have different sources.

Monoculture System

This method is the raising of a single crop in a specific area of farming. However, in a country like India, the Monoculture technique of farming isn't widely followed. Indoor farming like growing medicinal plants falls under the monoculture. In plain words, monoculture is a modern agriculture practice where a single crop or plant is grown.

[fatehbaz]

comment on my post:

aside from, like, their infamous social world of nepotism/king-making and their long history of training eugenicists who legitimized scientific racism; lawyers who built legal frameworks for slavery/Jim Crow stuff; and economists who justify continued disenfranchisement, poverty, military interventions/invasions? here’s some of the more recent stuff i’ve been reading.

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Source: Caio de Freitas Paes, translated by Roberto Cataldo, published by Maria Salazar. “Harvard fund evades justice in land-grabbing case over Cerrado farm.” Mongabay Brazil (Portuguese): 7 October 2020. Mongabay (English): 15 October 2020. 

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Source: GRAIN and Rede Social de Justica e Direitos Humanos. “Harvard’s land grabs in Brazil are a disaster for communities and a warning to speculators.” 8 May 2020. 

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In 1914 Richard P. Strong, recently appointed director of Harvard’s new Department of Tropical Medicine, told a reporter from the Boston Evening Transcript that “the troubles to be feared from the spread of tropical diseases by traffic through the Panama Canal are rather heavy financial losses through disturbance of trade [rather] than any great loss of life.” [...] Nearly all of the department’s expeditions were to industrial plantations in the making. It is not by coincidence that Strong characterized the department’s work as industrial hygiene. [...]

[I]t was precisely the infrastructures of multinational firms like United Fruit Company, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, and American petroleum companies overseas that Strong regarded as ideal assets in pursuing the kind of [...] research he envisioned.

In 1914, just one year after the creation of Harvard’s Department of Tropical Medicine, Strong took on an additional assignment that cemented the ties between his department and American business interests abroad. As newly appointed director of the Laboratories of the Hospitals and of Research Work of United Fruit Company, he set sail in July 1914 to United Fruit plantations in Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama. [...]

The Panama Canal, Strong recognized, had the potential to transform the economic and geopolitical fate of nations through the worldwide redistribution of disease. Anticipating the increased trade relations and movement of disease that the Panama Canal would bring, and influenced by the recommendations and financial backing of Harvard alumni such as Philippine governor Gen. William Cameron Forbes and patrons such as Edward Atkins, who were making their wealth in the banana and sugarcane industries, Harvard hired Strong, then head of the Philippine Bureau of Science’s Biological Laboratory, and personal physician to Forbes, to establish the second Department of Tropical Medicine in the United States (Tulane University established the first). [...]

As a shareholder in two British rubber plantations, Strong was acutely aware of the threat that Britain’s rubber monopoly posed to America’s economic interests. Strong approached Harvey Firestone, chief executive of the tire and rubber-processing conglomerate that bore his name, in December 1925 with a proposal to conduct an extensive biological and medical survey of the interior region of Liberia. Strong found a receptive ear. Firestone had negotiated tentative agreements in 1925 with the Liberian government for rights to a 2,000-acre plantation for experiments in rubber production, as well as a 99-year concession to optionally lease up to a million acres of Liberian land [...]. The biological and medical survey of Liberia undertaken by the Harvard scientists on behalf of Firestone, and ecological ideas of disease arising from their encounters with life in the tropics and work on industrial plantations, aided in altering the economy of nature and a nation. [...]

Strong and Forbes both left Manila for Boston in 1913. Strong began assembling a team of researchers and a course of instruction to take advantage of the increasing overseas presence of US firms. Forbes became an overseer to Harvard University and a director of United Fruit Company, the agricultural products marketing conglomerate best known for its extensive holdings of banana plantations throughout Central America. [...]

In 1912 United Fruit controlled over 300,000 acres of land in the tropics and had a net revenue of more than $5 million annually, holdings and profits that rapidly escalated over the next decade. With access to eight stations in different locales, free transport on company steamships, exposure to a wide variety of clinical conditions, and a ready supply of biological samples taken from the company’s hospitals and surrounding plantations, Strong boasted that no “tropical school of medicine in the world … had such an asset.” “It is something of a victory for Harvard,” he argued. “We could not for a million dollars procure such advantages.”[...]

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Source: Gregg Mitman. “Forgotten Paths of Empire: Ecology, Disease, and Commerce in the Making of Liberia’s Plantation Economy ...” Printed January 2017 in Environmental History. Originally published: December 2016.

[simsthroughtime]

The Cleary name doesn't appear for a while, possibly as the name was strongly associated with witchcraft in the Windenburg community. The next recorded 'Cleary' witch was in the late 1700s: Annabelle Cleroux. She likely changed her name when she moved to Sulani. She was ruthless and numerous reports of the time describe her as such. Her husband, Lucien did whatever she desired, which probably means he was enchanted. Apparently she made her husband buy land in Sulani when she saw the financial possibilities and established a sugarcane plantation.

They had two children, Louis and Angelique. Louis died in infancy, from sweating sickness, according to the records. There were rumours around Angelique's parentage as she looked nothing like her father. Angelique was cherished by Annabelle and it seemed as though Annabelle had high hopes for her to inherit the plantation. The two could not be separated.

Their plantation was the most profitable in Sulani, churning out high quality sugar and rum. Mysterious droughts and diseases affected the other plantations in the archipelago, resulting in failed harvests year after year. The Cleroux Plantation made profits beyond belief.

After Lucien Cleroux died in 1783, there was nothing stopping the other plantation owners of (rightly so) accusing Annabelle of witchcraft and turning the town against her. There was, unfortunately, plenty of evidence against her, such as the blights on their land and the insane good fortune of the Cleroux land. A maid also reported seeing Annabelle showing Angelique a poppet with a resemblance to Lucien. One night they stormed the house and Annabelle was dragged outside and burned. Angelique, luckily, was rescued and taken from the house by a servant, where she was returned to Windenburg set to inherit a grand fortune.

[needcake]

Hello ( ・∇・) I have come to haunt ur inbox

I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about Brazil? I recently finished a course in Latin American history and am very eager to learn more about just what life is like where you live, bc tbh the public Canadian education systems don’t do a very good job of teaching outside of Europe and even uni courses don’t feel quite...personal enough. Do you have three favourite things you like about ur region? Something ur frustrated by? Anything will do I���m just curious (ﾟωﾟ)

Also if u wanna: thoughts on Brazil the character? Do u vibe or nah

Tysm ♥️

Rein, you enable me ;_;

I have many thoughts on Brazil, I wrote a whole essay but it got too big haha so this is the redux version and it's still stupid big.

There are three main pillars in Brazilian culture: Indigenous, European and African.

Before the Portuguese bumped into our shores and brought their chickens with them, Brazil had various indigenous populations, with wildly different cultures. The Portuguese befriended some and helped their favorites win wars against the other tribes so they could still come and go. The Portuguese weren’t like the Spanish in their colonization, they didn’t come and imposed their settlements right away, they were mostly focused on trade, and so pretty much until the beginning of the sugar plantations there was very little European presence around here.

But yeah, after they figured they could grow sugar here instead of buying (*gasp* pay money for a commodity!) from India, they introduced it here and from then on we became Portugal’s nº 1 sugar colony.

(sidenote: sugarcane is one of the most HORRID crops to grow, its leaves are super sharp and it’s a terribly hard process to cut them down and process the canes, which is why enslaved labor was (and still is to this day, 2021!!) employed. And since sugar *IS* more addictive than cocaine, it’s incredibly profitable.)

(sidenote sidenote: the Portuguese had no refining plants in Portugal, they were mostly the middlemen between Brazil – where sugar was grown – and Flanders (Belgium and the Netherlands) – where it was refined into white sugar.)

(sidenote sidenote sidenote: People who usually moan about how we would have been better off under any other colonial power, 1) usually do not understand how colonialism works, and 2) keep comparing us, a sugar colony, to the US/Canada/Australia/New Zealand, all of which were not sugar colonies, instead of comparing us to Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and Suriname, all of which were sugar colonies of the other European colonial powers.)

But things changed when Napoleon decided to pull a Roman Emperor move and try to unify Europe under a French banner. The royal family escaped to Brazil, yadda yadda, and we were elevated from sugar colony to seat of government, capital of the empire. While Portugal was being invaded and sacked, we were getting new roads, sweet new landscaping and even universities.

Unlike other Latin American countries we were relatively stable and wealthy after the Napoleonic Wars ended. We annexed Uruguay, which was a major dick move since they had just declared independence from Spain (they kicked us out in 1825 tho), and we were in good terms with Britain. So much so that when Portugal demanded us to give back their royals and go back to being a colony, the cat was already out of the proverbial bag and we declared independence with British approval.

There was a bit of a war, but, by the end of it, Portugal was tired, so they conceded our independence as long as we paid their debt to the British, which we did, interestingly enough. Most Latin American countries ended their independence process with massive debt and terrible credit scores, but we not only did ours mostly bureaucratically, we also had a good credit score and were considered a good investment by European bankers.

So what’s a young nation to do with a lot of money in its pockets to try and impress their European counterparts? We tried to find the mythical national identity.

Most of our literature up to this point was borrowed from Portugal, but from this point forth we innovated and began borrowing from other Europeans, like the French. We wanted to be seen as “European” and “enlightened” so bad, most of our Romantic literature sucked really hard.

You have José de Alencar’s Iracema and O Guarani, both of which had brave and naïve noble savages who fell in love with white settlers and thus created the foundation of the Brazilian people. (I don’t like these books, but they were a sensation at the time and O Guarani was later adapted into an opera by Carlos Gomes – in Italian, obvs, can’t have opera in any other language apparently – and which every Brazilian person knows by heart because the overture plays at the beginning of the government-mandate radio program Brazilian Hour (Hora do Brasil) that still plays every day (most people just turn off their radios when it airs, I have never met a single person who listens to it)).

After exhausting Romantic literature, we jumped into the far more interesting Realistic literature, where Machado de Assis went from being a boring Romantic writer to being the most brilliant writer of our entire pantheon. I’m definitely biased, but if you have to pick a Brazilian lit book to read, I’d recommend Epitaph of a Small Winner and its far less known but equally good sequel Quincas Borba. Machado, himself a black man, really knew how to portray the hypocrisy of the Brazilian elite and how hard we tried to seem cultured and European, while under the surface being very much not that.

Politically, we were more or less stable, Pedro I had to go back to Europe because of Miguel’s coup, and he left his 6-year-old son, Pedro II, on the throne, while we were governed by regents. There were a few local revolts, all suppressed, and the Paraguayan War, which was... a lot.

Brazil was the last country to abolish slavery, which was only ever possible because of the work of black activists and external pressure from the British. Brazil was and still is a country ruled by landowners, so when faced with the prospect of having to *gasp* pay for labor they were all very reluctant. So slavery was abolished, but no compensation was given to the people who, for generations, had worked on the land (how dare they want freedom AND rights?).

From literary Realism we split ways into the bucolic Parnassianism (again copying the French), our national anthem is an example of Parnassian poetry btw, and into our grittier Naturalism phase, and O Cortiço (The Slum) is AN AMAZING book, really really good, 10/10.

After slavery was abolished and Pedro II was so deep in depression he didn’t really give a fuck about ruling anymore, the First Republic was proclaimed. There’s an amazing line in Machado’s Esau and Jacob (I’m quoting from memory here) in which the characters pass by a bakery called Imperial Bakery, and the morning after the proclamation they see the owner changing the name to Republican Bakery, which is SO emblematic of how things work in this country. Politicians push their papers and change things, and we just shrug off and go on living much the same way as before only with a new name slapped on top.

The First Republic was very oligarchy-y. It’s also called the Coffee and Milk Republic because the richest states – São Paulo, a state known for its coffee production, and Minas Gerais, a state known for its milk production – alternated presidents in power. It’s during this time that we bullied Bolivia into giving us Acre, and rubber became one of our major exports.

Brazilian government, again, ruled by landowners, was now faced with two options in face of the growing economy: hire back the people who knew how to work the land and pay them living wages, orrrrrrr import cheap (white) European labor from famine-ravished countries in Europe, and, surprise surprise, they went with the most racist of the two.

European immigrants came mostly from Italian and Germanic regions, but there were also waves of immigrants from Portugal, Hungary and Poland, as well as Japanese, Syrian and Lebanese immigrants.

In 1922, we have a cultural schism. A group of young intellectuals gathered in São Paulo and they took a long hard look at the Brazilian national identity in order to publish the Anthropophagic Manifesto. Anthropophagism, different from good old cannibalism, used to be practiced by some indigenous tribes in Brazil before (and a little during) colonization and it’s a custom in which, after defeating an enemy tribe, the leaders believed that consuming the flesh of their greatest warriors would grant them their strength and they would thus become much more powerful. Culturally, this meant that we should stop trying to emulate Europe, but consume its culture and transform it into our own. This movement begins the radical thinking that our culture was good actually, and we weren’t inferior to Europe. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it decolonized thinking, but it really was a moment when Brazil began looking back at its indigenous roots with pride.

It’s also around this time that anthropologist Gilberto Freyre published The Masters and the Slaves (1933), in which he states that, and please read this with as much sarcasm as you can muster, shockingly, there was no racism in Brazil, because we’re all one big race, the Brazilian race (except some are more equal than others obvs).

Then came WWII and the Cold War, and the US tried (and succeeded) to control Latin America so we wouldn’t fall prey to evil Communism. Most dictatorships here were US-backed, and ours was no different. American products began to flood our market, as well as American films and books and culture. Some of our best artists and writers went into exile abroad, and only came back after the end of the dictatorship, in 1985. Which also happened mostly bureaucratically, with politicians pushing papers and hiding the evidence of their crimes, pardoning everyone forever before leaving Brazil a bankrupt mess.

Our film industry became mostly non-existent, with most professionals having to make ends meet shooting pornography, our literature had taken a heavy beating from the censorship and was barely standing, but our music! Oh, boy, our music soared!

Samba, born from poor black communities, protested against racism, discrimination and poor living conditions. It praised the work of black women, their hardship and their strength. It glorified African ancestry, religion, language and roots. MPB is cool and all, but samba slaps hard. Composers like Cartola, Nelson Sargento and Dorival Caymmi are all emblematic of this.

We, as a society, are still coming to terms with what it means to be Brazilian. Racism is still deeply ingrained in the structures of our society and our native indigenous peoples still have to fight tooth and nail for their right to exist. We have flirted with fascism in the past and are now witnessing this alarming rise of neo-fascism in this country, which, given everything, is so STUPID.

And yet we are moved by a blind hope that things will be better, that Brazil can still be good.

Other really good books that I didn’t mention:

The Patriot/The Sad End of Policarpo Quaresma, by Lima Barreto

A estrela sobe (Rising star), by Marques Rebelo (not sure if there’s an English translation, he’s one of the least known authors)

The Violent Land, by Jorge Amado

Sergeant Getulio, by João Ubaldo Ribeiro

Every single play by Nelson Rodrigues, but most notably: Boca de Ouro (has a great film adaptation), Toda nudez será castigada (has a good film adaptation as well) and Vestido de Noiva.

Films that everyone should watch:

Black God, White Devil - Glauber Rocha (1964)

Rio, 100 Degrees F - Nelson Pereira dos Santos (1955) (p.s. it’s 40ºC in the original title XD)

São Paulo, Sociedade Anônima - Luis Sérgio Person (1965)

They don’t wear black-tie - by Leon Hirszman (1981)

Twenty Years Later - by Eduardo Coutinho (1984)

Bacurau – Kleber Mendonça Filho (2019)

TL;DR: I love this country with the power of a thousand suns and I still hope to live to see it getting its shit together.

I'm from the south (famous for our cattle production and racism), so three favorite things are: being close to Uruguay (my beloved), local wine is cheap? idk, the food is good. I don't have a whole lot of good things to say about my region, it sucks a lot most of the time.

In terms of Hetalia, I like writing Brazil as being a true political animal down to his core. We joke that there's only one law governing this country, which is Gerson's Law (Gérson was a semi-famous football player who did this cigarette commercial in which he says "why pay more if *this brand of cigarette* gives me everything I need? I like to take advantage in everything."), or, as it is more commonly known, the Brazilian jeitinho. He can be very intense with his personal feelings, but he covers it with a thick layer of emotional armor, always making jokes (memes) at his own expense to hide the fleshiest parts of him. He was still pretty young when he looked at Port, tangled in his union with Spain and riddled with problems, and stopped seeing him as this god-like parent figure and started seeing as just... another person, deeply flawed and human. So he mostly learned how to go around him and sweet-talk his way out of trouble. The only people who can see right through him are Port (when he can get his head out of his ass), Uruguay and Argentina. His rivalry with Argentina goes beyond football (but let's be honest, Argentina has a knack to fostering rivalries pretty much the same way as France does). I don't have a fixed ship for him (I like him single ready to mingle), but I like Brazil/Uruguay and Brazil/Uruguay/Argentina. Brazil/Argentina is also good and I enjoy it a lot.

This is stupid long haha but thank you for asking!! I love talking about my sweet dumpster on fire of a country ;____;

[waterbesideme]

Do you like sno-cones? How about cotton candy? Have you ever used Domino sugar products in baking or enjoy rum in your cocktails? You have New Orleans to thank for that. 

I’m going back and doing research on New Orleans using Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas & rediscovering how the sugar industry funneled money into the city from its inception. The massive amounts of money associated with sugarcane production also funded the infamous slave trade in New Orleans as well, as plantation owners bought up slaves to further increase sugar production. 

It’s crazy how the city still benefits from sugar to this day: everything from the Allstate Sugar Bowl to Domino Sugar, daiquiris and beignets proves that Nola has us hooked on its sugar. The sugarcane plantations in what are now the Audubon, Freret and Touro neighborhoods have been turned into public parks. And dialysis centers are everywhere.  

Sugar even lured my father’s family to New Orleans from Barbados, where they had run several sugarcane plantations but were looking for more land and more profit. My mother’s family worked in sugar refineries when money was tight. It’s only when I begin to look at these maps that I fully comprehend the brutality and greed in the foundation of our favorite sugary treats. 

[efrost]

Global Crop Protection Chemicals Market Growing Popularity and Emerging Trends in the Industry Analysis by Key Players

Global Crop Protection Chemicals Market Report from AMA Research highlights deep analysis on market characteristics, sizing, estimates and growth by segmentation, regional breakdowns & country along with competitive landscape, players market shares, and strategies that are key in the market. The exploration provides a 360° view and insights, highlighting major outcomes of the industry. These insights help the business decision-makers to formulate better business plans and make informed decisions to improved profitability. In addition, the study helps venture or private players in understanding the companies in more detail to make better informed decisions. Major Players in This Report IncludeBASF SE (Germany)

The Dow Chemical Company (United States)

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (United States)

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (Japan)

Syngenta AG (Switzerland)

Arysta LifeScience Corporation (United States)

American Vanguard Corporation (United States)

Bayer CropScience AG (Germany)

Lanxess Aktiengesellschaft (Germany)

FMC Corporation (United States)

Crop protection chemicals are the chemicals widely used to help in managing and minimizing plant diseases, weeds as well as other pests which damage agricultural crops. These chemicals also benefit from growing and maintaining crop yield over the years. Various types of crop protection are herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, among others. Previously, farmers use to control the infestation of insects & fungi inorganic compounds including arsenic and mercury salts. Presently, various chemicals are available for protecting crops from getting damaged by rodents, birds, insects, as well as bacteria, etc. Development in farming practices and technology, as well as the growing need for food security due to the rise in population, are the growth driving factors for the global crop protection chemicals market. Market Drivers  Development in Farming Practices and Technology

Growing Need for Food Security Due to the Rise in Population

Heavy Crop Loss Owing to Pest Attacks

Market Trend 

Opportunities  Speedy Growth in the Biopesticides Market as well as Organic Agriculture

High Opportunities in Developing Nations

Challenges  Evolution of Biotechnology & Growing Acceptance of GM Crops as an Substitute to Crop Protection Chemicals

The Crop Protection Chemicals market study is being classified by Type (Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides, Acaricides, Nematicides, Rodenticides, Disinfectants, Fumigants, Mineral Oils, Others), Crop Type (Cereals & Oilseeds, Fruits & Vegetables, Others (Sugarcane,Plantation Crops,Turfs & Ornamentals)), Mode of Application (Foliar spray, Seed treatment, Soil treatment, Others (Chemigation and Fumigation)), Basis of Origin (Synthetic, Biopesticides), Basis of Form (Liquid, Solid) Presented By

AMA Research & Media LLP

[fluid-capabilities-blog]

AAS Tablets dosing

AAS Pills dosing

AAS Pills might be components for the sophisticated BBs, assumes socustomer know the stuff. In case one choose to have the gains withoverall health features - set the goals accurately.

Use Androstanazole and combine the juice with Test Cypionate forbackground if you wish to remove excess flab. Winstrol V considerespecially committed ones. So you may mess around inject Parabolan,juice may complete one with the great charge plus awesome muscle.

To get high quality, but not poor water bodyweight, include reliable A'slike Ganabol. Consume AAS which transform to oestrogens to improve size,use androgens to the background, like Hydroxymetholone.

To manage training steps correctly, you ought to effectively monitor thetestosterone & blood, remain tracking. People oftentimes read like it'sacceptable just eat a tablet or add juice into dart.    

Drawbacks of AAS Injects stuff

If sexual appetite became lowered - attach some Tildenafil. EatClenbuterol at half-amounts to hold all weight. Consistently gain backendogenous hormones with antiestrogens, block cortisol promptly.Subsequently after Trienbolone Enanthate swallow Clomifene citrate,after else - get Fareston.

Actually a several ideas for use. Look at body's hormones and bio,recover near few months subsequent to cycle. Exactly how you lowerproblems? - just don't exaggerate that! Between cycles get good rest,one can begin next one when your screens come like on the beginning.

There can be plenty of the gossip supposedly musclemen are mostly down,their romantic life is under sorrow & hassle, though practice statesanother. Most of AS are designed of testosterone. Your jewels generatehandmade arnies, but nothing horrible happened, mans nuts was creatinghormone for gillion yrs.

Look at ur glucose levels, estrogens, hormone cortisol, cholesterol,testosterone and renal organs. While having aromatized roids cycleFemara. Inject Chorionic gonadotropin on a extended cycles to maintainyour testes at volume.   

Anabolic Androgenic Steroids wow reviews

U need to light a match to fire the fuel. Launching of the enhancementprocess is done exclusively with the hormone, so diet could notsubstitute modern Steroid Tablets.

Why one need AS, assuming you can eat natural meat exercising in ahealth club getting zero assistance? Common matter - become drained assome servant in the sugarcane plantations making no profits. Morepainless to speak dogshit other than focus on oneself and do all thehomework.

Steroid drug casts meat on skinny boys frame, alters testosteronecomfort. Fatass shall burn his excess weight with some quality fat-losssteroid. Skilled bodybuilders 'll increase their own athletic hopes. 

Effects of AAS Tabs cycle

- Thanks to anabolics, your feeling is always polite.

- You should to begin earning additional dollars - the craving for  food should be good.

- 100% restoring, anyone would easily to get away from the apartment.

- Incase u are straight, u should charm chicks.

- AS can make one solid.

- Libido growing - your girlfriend should be satisfied.

- Bland exercising 'll become thrilling, exercise can develop into  affection.

- Doping 's complex - AS treats and improves, its range is nearly  limitless.

- Incase you're nice you shall draw those who you like.

- Steroids - enhancement for ultimate switch of body & mind.

- Steroids last more and provide excellent force while any kind of  nutritional stuff disappear.

- You'll be less unwell, resistance will raise.   

Features of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids

AS was formerly established not for sports needs, but 2 combat manytypes of the disturbing issues. Steroid drugs are applied for healingmuscle atrophy, haemoglobin reduce, burns, fatigue. Anabolic therapyreinstates muscular tissue, cures breaks, cuts, heightens metabolicprocess.

Anabolic Androgenic Steroids set up for various sport activities goodterms. The test shifts to an effective mode basic nitrogenous amount.

Tissues start developing only if an individual's body generates thehormones. With no hormone, there aren't essential reaction - no excuseto get strong grow. Fitness nutrients simply delivers a energy to ourbody, maintains routine.

Anabolic Androgenic Steroids offer an essential effect on muscle mass,compounds usually applied within bodybuilding like doping. Steroid Tabsare medications which trigger all processes related to reconstruction,healing or advancement of the lean muscle. Substances increase totalformation of brand-new structure units & body tissue.

Progressive AAS are a technique 2 all knowledgeable in this particulartheme, the option to achieve unachievable gains. The natural anabolicsetting turns into ultra power, induces lean muscle enhancement. 

[netflixanthrothings-blog]

Black Museum Netflix Review- Isaac Ho

The show I have chosen for this Netflix review assignment is Black Museum. It is an episode from the well-known TV series, Black Mirror. In this episode, a black woman named Nish is driving along a dusty highway and then stops by a rundown petrol station to solar charge her car. She, then, notices a tourist attraction called the Black Museum nearby. With plenty of time to spare, she decides to take a tour around the museum lead by the owner, Rolo Haynes. He explains to Nish that the museum contains many artifacts that were in one way or another used to commit a crime. Rolo, then, tells Nish to pick anything and he will explain to her the story of the artifact and how it ended up in the museum. After Nish chooses an item, Rolo narrates the story to Nish, through a series of flashbacks scenes. Nish had chosen two items and in both stories we see Rolo’s previous job where he had made these devices, and distributed it to people.

After that, Rolo directs Nish to his main attraction. The item was actually a black man, Clayton Leigh, that was a convicted murderer who was executed and now his consciousness was turned into a hologram. We get another flashback and an explanation to how Rolo procured Clayton and his function in the museum. We are told that when visitors arrive, they are able to witness the black man getting electrocuted. Even though he was just a hologram, the man could feel the pain every time it happened. We then see a plot twist revealing that Nish is actually the man’s daughter and she has come to kill Rolo. She explains that after the museum was running out of business, rich white men come to the museum just to see the black man getting electrocuted. They even pay Rolo extra money just to prolong the experience and when her mother found out, it made her commit suicide. We also find out that Nish had poisoned Rolo earlier on when he drank her water. Nish’s ultimate plan is to kill Rolo and take his consciousness to put it into her dad’s. After she does so, she electrocutes her dad with Rolo in his head one last time to end his life. Nish then blows up the entire museum and goes into her car. Another twist then happens as we discover that the consciousness of Nish’s mother had been in her head the whole time and the episode ends with Nish driving off back onto the dusty highway.

The reason why I chose to watch this is because I am very interested in the topic of racism. Growing up in Malaysia, a country that has majority Malay people, and going to a Malay dominant school has given me an experience of what racism is like. I would not say my experiences are as intense as what other people may feel but nevertheless racism was prominent during my time in primary school. Thus, to me racism is a sensitive topic and it’s close to my heart. I also think there has been many movies or TV shows touching on this subject, I wanted to see how Black Mirror adapted the notion of racism in their series. Moreover, I chose it because of many have raved positively about the TV series. Thus, I hoped for great content by watching this show.

Even though we see such a little portion of the episode touch on the topic of racism, we can draw many parallels from it and the suffering of black people in history. The museum held objects that were used to commit a crime or murder in one way or another and everything we saw in the museum was very technological. Just as Nish said, “this stuff looks techie” (Black Mirror, 2017, 6:40). An electric chair had been used for years, the first execution by an electric chair happened in 1890 so it is not unheard of (Cavendish, 2015). Rolo Haynes needed something spectacular, he could have gone with a Caucasian criminal, an Asian or a Latino but instead he went for an African American criminal. He used Clay as his main attraction and he profited off Clay’s suffering on the electric chair. Which in essence is the same as how Americans in the South were profiting from black slavery in the 1600s (Timmons, 2018). In much of the 17th century, the American economy revolved around agriculture, selling many different types of crops such as rice and sugarcane (Timmons, 2018). In the South, property owners with the right environment and land size began huge plantations which meant that they needed more help to plant crops (Timmons, 2018). At that time, slavery was socially acceptable and slaves were being brought into America from West Africa (Timmons, 2018). With an upsurge of slaves emerged a new industry, the slave auction, where Africans lives were bidded on with money (Timmons, 2018). Once sold to the buyer, they were given hard labour everyday and were treated like animals (Timmons, 2018). Most of the profit from selling the crops were gone to the white man and some to the slaves just for motivation but they in the end still had no freedom apart from their master (Slave Labour, 2011). Rolo did not care that he was hurting Clayton, he profited off Clayton’s pain and kept him in a prison cell decor box. In return, he kept his family afloat financially but just as in the past, Clayton had no freedom away from the museum.

What makes this so racist is because Rolo knew Clay was definitely going to get executed. Even after all the doubts and inconsistencies of evidence pointed out by Nish, the judge did not take that into account and charged Clay guilty. Maybe the judge did but because all judges are allowed to decide the sentence or punishment of the person in their own discretion, there can be a racial bias to the decision (Ingraham, 2017). In reality, this is very much a real issue and it is proven that black males do get sentences that are worse than white males (Ingraham, 2017). A real-life example would be the sentences given to Brock Turner and Brian Banks. Both of them committed crimes in the same degree and yet Brock (white male) was only sentenced to 6 months in prison while Brian (black male) was sentenced to 5 years in prison (Noman, 2016). Thankfully, the accuser for Brian Banks crime came out and admitted the allegations were fabricated which then dropped all charges against him (Noman, 2016).

There is a scene in the episode where this “race-hate rich guy,” as said by Nish (Black Mirror, 2017, 59:55), pays more money to Rolo just to see Clay get electrocuted longer. That is racism in its rawest form because the definition of racism is the prejudice, discrimination or hatred directed at someone because of their color, ethnicity or national origin (About Racism, 2017). I think the director, Charlie Brooker, did an amazing job fitting a lot of black suffering history in such a short time but I do not recommend this episode to be added into this course in the future. In a few minutes over an hour, on about 25 minutes was used to go through this racism part in the episode. The other 40 minutes were used to show how bad of a person Rolo is and in those 40 minutes was a narrative of two stories. One of two is not for the faint hearted which is someone like me. I think it can really scar a person and place an image in their head that they will never forget. I believe people should get out of their bubble of comfort to be aware and realise the suffering others go through. Yet again there are things that people who are not ready should not face and it will take them more experience to be ready for harder things. If Black Museum were to be used again in this course, I think it would be best to let the students know the type of intensity they will face. That is why I do not think it is a good idea to add Black Museum as a part of this course.

This moment of the episode is when Nish had gotten her justice for her father and is headed off away from the Black Museum. The reason why this is my favorite moment of this episode is because it was satisfying to see Nish getting her justice and ended a museum built by the horrible things that happened because of Rolo.

[konkanbag]

Everything You Need to Know About Indian Agriculture

Nearly three-quarters of India's families depend on rural income. India's food security depends on increasing cereal crop production as well as fruits, vegetables, and milk production to meet the demands of a growing population.

Agriculture is an important sector of the Indian economy as it is the primary source of livelihood for the majority of the population. Agriculture accounts for about 17% of GDP and employs more than 60% of the population.

India is the world's largest producer of milk, pulses, and hemp and the second-largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruits, and cotton. Spices, fish, poultry, livestock, and plantation crops are also major exports.

The Indian food industry has a lot of room for expansion. Its annual contribution to the global food trade is increasing, especially as a result of its enormous value-added potential in the food processing industry. India ranks sixth in the world in terms of grocery sales, accounting for 70% of total retail sales. The food processing industry accounts for 32 % of the country's total food market. It is the most important industry in India.

There are different types of agriculture in India.

Subsistence farming, organic farming, and industrial or commercial farming are all done in India. Due to the wide range of climates in India, there are significant changes in agriculture.

Subsistence farming: In India, the majority of farmers are engaged in subsistence farming. This includes raising food for self-consumption. In other words, farmers and their families grow the whole crop and have no extra money to sell in the local market. The whole family runs the farm and most of the farming is done by hand. The supply of modern farming equipment, such as tractors, and farm inputs, such as chemical fertilizers, is low.

Migrant farming: Migrant farming is a type of farming in which farmers cultivate the land for two or three seasons. They then leave the land alone, which can lead to a flourishing of vegetables. Farmers are then forced to migrate to new areas. The planting period ends when the soil shows signs of depletion or, more generally, when the field is covered with weeds. After cutting down and burning the standing trees, the method of cutting and burning leaves only the trunks and large trees in the field.

Intensive farming: Intensive farming is a farming system that uses a lot of labor and capital in proportion to the size of the land. This often involves the widespread use of fertilizers and pesticides to increase production, as well as the purchase and use of machinery to assist in planting, chemical use, and picking. Industrial farming is another name for it.

Terrace agriculture: Terrace agriculture is a farming method in which "steps" known as terraces are made on the slopes of hills and mountains to cultivate crops. Terrace farming prevents soil nutrients from being carried away by rain, resulting in the healthy growth of the crop. This farming method has made it possible to cultivate crops in hilly or mountainous areas.

Plantation Farming: Plantation farming is a type of commercial farming where the primary objective is to grow crops for profit. Due to the way crops are developed for profit, a large amount of land is required for afforestation to be profitable.

To buy agricultural Land in Konkan please visit: konkanbag.com

[fatehbaz]

Biopolitics and tropical ecology; US healthcare and medicine research at early 20th-century tropical plantations; entanglement of doctors and academic institutions with imperialism, rubber business magnates, and major resource extraction corporations; origin of Harvard’s Department of Tropical Medicine and funding dependent on US occupations in Central America and West Africa.

-------

The paths of empire that sustained the transoceanic exchange of biological specimens, commodities, and knowledge in the growth of industrial plantation economies reached across the Atlantic [...]. We know far too little about the importance of American multinational firms, like United Fruit, to the funding and shape of international health efforts in the early twentieth century. [...] Yet it was precisely the infrastructures of multinational firms like United Fruit Company, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, and American petroleum companies overseas that Strong regarded as ideal assets [...].

In 1914 Richard P. Strong, recently appointed director of Harvard’s new Department of Tropical Medicine, told a reporter from the Boston Evening Transcript that “the troubles to be feared from the spread of tropical diseases by traffic through the Panama Canal are rather heavy financial losses through disturbance of trade [rather] than any great loss of life.” [...] The expedition journeys of Strong and his colleagues loosely followed the passages of people, commodities, and disease enmeshed in the transatlantic slave trade that sustained an earlier era of plantation economies. It is a historical perspective not lost in coming to understand the ecology and evolution of disease formulated by the likes of Strong, Hans Zinsser, and other members of Harvard’s Department of Tropical Medicine. In this newer era of industrial plantation agriculture, with its concomitant demands for labor, the large-scale transformation of landscapes helped make visible the interrelationships among people, plants, and parasites -- relationships that had to be managed to turn nature into profits. Nearly all of the department’s expeditions were to industrial plantations in the making. It is not by coincidence that Strong characterized the department’s work as industrial hygiene. [...]

---

The Panama Canal, Strong recognized, had the potential to transform the economic and geopolitical fate of nations through the worldwide redistribution of disease. Anticipating the increased trade relations and movement of disease that the Panama Canal would bring, and influenced by the recommendations and financial backing of Harvard alumni such as Philippine governor Gen. William Cameron Forbes and patrons such as Edward Atkins, who were making their wealth in the banana and sugarcane industries, Harvard hired Strong, then head of the Philippine Bureau of Science’s Biological Laboratory, and personal physician to Forbes, to establish the second Department of Tropical Medicine in the United States (Tulane University established the first).

---

Strong and Forbes both left Manila for Boston in 1913. Strong began assembling a team of researchers and a course of instruction to take advantage of the increasing overseas presence of US firms. Forbes became an overseer to Harvard University and a director of United Fruit Company, the agricultural products marketing conglomerate best known for its extensive holdings of banana plantations throughout Central America. [...]

In 1912 United Fruit controlled over 300,000 acres of land in the tropics and had a net revenue of more than $5 million annually, holdings and profits that rapidly escalated over the next decade. With access to eight stations in different locales, free transport on company steamships, exposure to a wide variety of clinical conditions, and a ready supply of biological samples taken from the company’s hospitals and surrounding plantations, Strong boasted that no “tropical school of medicine in the world … had such an asset.” “It is something of a victory for Harvard,” he argued. “We could not for a million dollars procure such advantages.”

---

Over the next two decades, he established a research funding model reliant on the medical and biological services the Harvard department could provide US-based multinational firms in enhancing their overseas production and trade in coffee, bananas, rubber, oil, and other tropical commodities. In turn, the department gained unrivaled access to new diseases, species, and diverse habitats throughout the world facilitated by the transportation and communication networks of American commercial firms abroad. Those transportation networks also supported a grueling schedule of scientific travel, with annual expeditions, some lasting as long as eight months, from the upper reaches of the Amazon to the interior of Liberia. [...]

Roads built to foster Firestone’s connectivity to Indigenous labor served to heighten land alienation. [...] Roads also became the corridors through which profits flowed. In 1951 more than 79 million pounds of raw latex, valued at more than $48 million, moved along the former expedition path. Firestone owned 94 percent of that latex and paid the Liberian government $3.8 million plus six cents per acre for the pleasure of doing business in Liberia [...].

Nevertheless, serious obstacles posed risks to Firestone’s success in Liberia. Most significantly, endemic plant and human diseases threatened both the survival and growth of rubber plants imported from Southeast Asia [...]. As the expedition set sail for Monrovia, Strong wrote in his diary that he hoped their efforts would push the United States to “exert a more stimulating influence upon the development of the … country and its people” as it had in the Philippines, Panama, and Puerto Rico.

--

Harvard’s Department of Tropical Medicine was thoroughly entangled in the material relationships -- transportation infrastructure, labor regimes, and commodity production -- that were instrumental in advancing the interests of firms like United Fruit, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, and the American Chicle Company as they transformed landscapes across the globe.

--

Text by: Gregg Mitman. “Forgotten Paths of Empire: Ecology, Disease, and Commerce in the Making of Liberia’s Plantation Economy.” Environmental History. January 2017. [Italicized first paragraph/heading added by me.]