Agriculture in Zhenia



Agriculture in Zhenia, although it has decreased both in priority and percentage in the Zhenian economy, remains a prominent industry in the nation, constituting the primary sector alongside forestry, fishing and mining. Having been since the late 15th century AC, it has achieved high levels of productivity, allowing for Zhenia to become a net exporter of agricultural goods despite the agricultural industry accounting for less than 3% of the national economy and around 1.5% of the national workforce as a whole. Agricultural economy in Zhenia is considerably subsidized by the government, mostly through minimum crop price policies, mandatory governmental acquisitions in emergency situations and subsidies for, although many farms today are operated by local and agricultural corporations.

While agricultural activity is observed in most parts of the nation, a significant portion of it is concentrated in the Central Zhenian Plains, as well as significant portions of the Danguk Peninsula and regions south of the Taimir River. Different crops are mainly cultivated across different parts of the nation, with rice being predominant in more humid regions of the Danguk Peninsula and coastal regions around the Gulf of Danguk, while a majority of inland central Zhenia as well as parts of northern Zhenia primarily cultivate wheat and sorghum. While agriculture has historically been focused on cereals and other crops deemed essential to survival, the commercialization and mechanization of agriculture has brought a significant shift to other, more profitable crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, cotton, tea and tobacco, amid governmental incentives to increase the profitability of its agricultural sector.

Climate


Agriculture in Zhenia is significantly influenced, if not dictated, by the nation's diverse climate patterns and soil quality. The Central Zhenian Plains, as well as other major alluvial plains around the nation, such as the Western Dan Plains and the Chang River Basin, are flat and receive enough precipitation to allow for grassland-based agriculture and horizontal irrigation systems as well as large-scale farming over large expanses of land. Other areas around the nation, including the more mountainous parts of the Danguk Peninsula as well as central-western and southern Zhenia, are mostly covered in mountain ranges are thus relatively less favorable for large-scale agriculture, although has expanded the agricultural capacity of these regions. While significant parts of western and northern Zhenia are desert or semi-arid land, irrigation systems based on exotic rivers flowing through the region as well as ground water have provided agricultural land in these regions.

Most of southern and central Zhenia, as well as most parts of the Danguk Peninsula, being situated in a region of humid temperate climate, receives most of its precipitation in the summer monsoon seasons, with its precipitation patterns significantly affected by El Niño and La Niña cycles in the eastern Hanmaric Ocean via large fluctuations in the amount and frequency of rain the region receives. Pockets of southern Zhenia, along the Chang River, receive heavy rain in both summer and winter seasons and remains above freezing year-round, allowing for at least two harvests every year. Despite rain patterns being consistent in the northeast, lower temperatures and absolute quantity of precipitation has resulted in the primary cultivation of wheat instead of rice in these regions.

Early history


The history of agriculture in Zhenia dates back to over 20,000 years ago, indicated by the discovery of ground wild rice alongside grounding tools in parts of the Taimir River basin, both of which are estimated to have been used by hunter-gatherers in the area. Remains of domesticated millet and rice, dating back to over 8,000 years ago, have been discovered in the same region, despite claims over millet was directly cultivated with human intervention at the time. The percentage of cultivated rice found in Neolithic sites have shown a general increase if the remains are closer to the coast and the south, where more abundant amounts of precipitation and favorable temperatures allowed for the easier cultivation of rice in the area. Despite being more labor-intensive than millet, rice became the staple crop in the region by around 900 BC, while millet cultivated in areas with less precipitation were partly replaced with wheat cultivation. Archaeological evidence in the Central Zhenian Plains, dating back to around 900-850 BC, suggests that settlers had already used beasts of burden and cast iron plows to cultivate the land.

Due to the importance of agriculture in ancient Zhenian societies, several local faiths as well as Zhenian Wuism, which proliferated throughout modern-day Zhenia during the Zhen dynasty, included deities overseeing agriculture, rain and irrigation, although they were not necessarily overseen by one deity. Zhenian Wuism, for instance, suggests that while rain is a blessing by Shinmir, humans cultivate and irrigate the arable land given to them as the domain of Dhemir, the deity of the past whose domain rests on the earth. Numerous tracts of Zhenian Wuism, as well as several local faiths, include a series of rituals and rites that are performed in dedicated altars to ask for the blessing of said deities. Such dedicated altars, called 'Sajik', are often seen as the practical, natural essence of historic Zhenian dynasties, both in the Danguk Peninsula and the mainland.