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Text: Siberian hamster
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introduction
When it comes to Argentina, most people's first reaction may be the hometown of soccer superstar Lionel Messi, or the new President Milley, who looks like Trump's new president.
But in fact, the most noteworthy thing about this country is the variety of agricultural products it produces.
In terms of climate and geography, Argentina is a country that is simply the chosen one to run an agricultural business, and the government has recognized this and has been vigorously promoting their agricultural products. Whether it's a variety of oil crops as a primary product or wines with higher added value, Argentina is the number one in the world.
(Argentina location)
1. The chosen son of agriculture in the field of agriculture
China is a large agricultural country with a history of more than 1,000 years, so our emotions and understanding of agriculture are very profound. There is a saying that "God appreciates food", which is very appropriate to describe agriculture.
Even in modern times, where agricultural science and technology have been relatively developed, agriculture is still an industry that depends on the weather for food, and once the climatic environment or geographical environment changes, farmers are likely to have no harvest.
Running agriculture requires not only a relatively suitable climate, but also flat and vast land to facilitate the operation of large agricultural machinery. It's very difficult to get all of this done at the same time, but Argentina has done it.
(Argentine farmland)
There are many lakes in Argentina, and the water resources are not only abundant, but also relatively evenly distributed. The Paraná River, which flows through its territory, is the second largest river in South America. The country has a land area of 278.04 square kilometers, of which 27.2 million hectares can be used to produce agricultural products.
About one in ten Argentines is a farmer or works in an agriculture-related industry. The climate is relatively mild, and the land with poor soil fertility accounts for a very small proportion of the country's land, which is an important factor in the development of local agriculture.
In addition to the natural environment, Argentina has a very long history of farming. The indigenous Indians of South America began various agricultural activities long before they were colonized.
(Argentine Ranch)
In the 16th century, the local plantation industry entered a stage of rapid development, and various agricultural product processing industries emerged with it. In the 18th century, animal husbandry in the country received attention from the outside world.
The climate of the Pampas is ideal for the growth of pastures, and animal husbandry has been in the works since then. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were a period of rapid agricultural development and the occupation of the international market, when Argentina became one of the richest countries in the world.
Until now, Argentina has continued to expand its share of the international food market. According to data provided by the Rosario Grain Exchange in Argentina, Argentina plays an important role in international agricultural trade as a net exporter of agriculture.
(Argentine corn)
From 2017 to 2021, for example, the country exports an average of 93 million tonnes of grain per year, and this figure is still rising. About 70 percent of the food produced in Argentina each year is used for export to generate income.
This also illustrates the fact that Argentina produces far more agricultural products than it needs, which is the exact opposite of India's situation. A large part of the Indian people have a relatively low standard of living, and the problem of food and clothing for these people has not been effectively solved.
But even so, India still exports a large amount of grain every year, and the standard of living of Indians, who are also large grain exporters, is far inferior to that of Argentina. This is due to the relatively small number of nationals in Argentina.
Compared to India, a country with a large population, Argentina is completely vast and sparsely populated. Therefore, whether it is natural or social conditions, Argentina is a well-deserved chosen son in the field of agriculture.
(Argentine farmer)
Second, the oil is sufficient, and the output is higher than that of the mainland
One of the more striking features of Argentina's agricultural exports is the diversity of the types of products exported. In addition to staple grains such as corn and wheat, Argentina also exports oil crops such as peanuts and soybeans, as well as various by-products such as soybean meal produced during the oil extraction process.
Soybean meal is a nutritious feed raw material that is very popular in the international agricultural market. Argentina's oil crops are of great concern because other agricultural products such as corn and wheat enter the market in largely unprocessed form.
However, the oil crops are different, and Argentina exports not only raw materials, but also processed finished products and by-products. Argentina's oil crops in 2013/2014 were bumper in a row, with an output of 57.8 million tonnes, making it the third largest producer of oil crops in the world, surpassing China.
(Argentine peanuts)
In 2017, the country's peanut production ranked fifth in the world, with an annual output of more than one million tons.
Most of these peanuts come from the province of Córdoba. The province of Córdoba produces 96% of Argentina's peanuts, which Argentina can only digest about 10%, and the rest is exported around the world.
China is a big buyer of Argentine peanuts, importing more than 100,000 tons a year. The peanut industry is also a model industry for Argentine agriculture.
(Argentine soybeans)
With peanuts out of the way, let's talk about the more universal oil crop ----- soybeans. Argentina has a complete production and export industry chain. The country exports about 6.7 million tons, 5 million tons of soybean oil and 28 million tons of soybean meal each year.
As can be seen from the above data, the amount of soybeans produced by Argentina each year can almost be described as "astronomical". In Latin America, the only country that can compete with Argentina in the soybean sector is Brazil.
In addition to peanuts and soybeans, the production of sunflowers in Argentina is also very impressive, although not as exaggerated as soybean production, but more than enough to surpass peanuts. At the beginning of the 21st century, the country's annual sunflower production reached 3.49 million tons.
In fourth place among the oil crops is flaxseed, with a production of around 34,000 tons, which is the result of reduced production in the 70s of the 20th century. From the above, we can see that Argentina is rich in a variety of mainstream oil crops, and the products of these crops far exceed the needs of the Argentine people.
(Argentine sunflower fields)
In other words, these things are grown in Argentina that the Argentines themselves simply cannot digest. It is also the world's number one exporter of soybean oil because it is less expensive to process and produce soybean oil, and it is far more profitable to sell finished products than just raw materials.
At present, the oil crops exported by Argentina have become ballast in the international market. In 2022, the Argentine government announced that it would cut the export price of soybeans, and it was immediately judged that its actions would affect the price of soybeans in the United States.
Needless to say, the position of the United States in the international agricultural market is not to be said, and the fact that Argentina's actions can have an impact on it speaks for itself in this field.
(Pampas Plains)
3. There is no shortage of wine and beef
If grain and oilseeds are the basic products of agricultural products, then beef and red wine are high value-added categories in this field. Argentina is the largest producer of red wine in South America and the fourth largest in the world.
Wine is a popular drink in the country, and the presence of a domestic market has led to the start of viticulture in the country. However, most of the wine estate businesses in Argentina are Spanish and Italian immigrants.
This means that the wines they produce are more stylistically similar to those of Italy and Spain. This is mainly due to the fact that both Spain and Italy are large wine countries in the European region. When Spain colonized Argentina, it naturally brought domestic winemaking technology with them.
(Owner of the Argentine winery)
The nationals of these countries have mastered more advanced methods of viticulture and winemaking, which allows them to stand out from the competition in the local market in Argentina and to compete with the products of their European homeland.
Unlike other large quantities of agricultural products, Argentina has adopted a strategy of limiting the amount of wine, limiting the production of grapes to a certain range by demarcating the appellation. This can not only ensure the quality of Argentine wines, but also increase the unit price of the product to a certain extent.
Now, Argentine wines have become one of the representatives of New World wines, among which the red wines with Malbec grapes and the white wines made from Danissa grapes are the most characteristic quality products of Argentine wines.
(Argentinian wine)
When you drink alcohol, of course, you need meat to accompany your meal. Relying on the pampas, Argentina is also very well developed in animal husbandry, and the most representative product is Argentine beef.
Argentina has a well-developed livestock industry, with goats, sheep, pigs and all kinds of poultry in addition to beef cattle. At its peak, Argentina exported 546,000 tonnes of beef annually, generating US$926 million in revenue for the country.
Compared with other countries, the advantages of the Argentine aquaculture industry are mainly concentrated in two aspects: first, the innate natural environment is very suitable for large-scale farming, and second, the local area is a non-FMD area and a non-mad cow disease area for vaccination. In addition, there is no swine fever or avian influenza epidemic in the local area.
The biggest problem facing the contemporary aquaculture industry is the abuse of veterinary drugs, and many people who are concerned about food safety attach great importance to this aspect, and are willing to pay far more than the value of the goods themselves in order to buy more "organic" ingredients.
(Argentine beef)
As a result, high-end meat produced in Argentina has become marketable. Beef is 85% of the country's exports, and beef has become a gold medal in Argentine farming.
The country's meat production is not only high, but also very diverse, and on the basis of satisfying its own population, it can also earn a lot of foreign exchange for agricultural workers.
However, there is an exception to the Argentine farming industry, which is that they do not produce enough pork and need to import it every year to make up the difference. This is because there are relatively few farms in the country that specialize in raising pigs in large quantities, and the market for them is not as large as other meats.
Argentina has food, oil, wine and meat, and it stands to reason that the Argentine people should live a very rich and good life, but the truth is quite the opposite. Taking the data of 2023 as an example, in the context of the global economic recovery, Argentina's economy is still 1.6% lower than in 2022.
(Argentines protesting against economic downturn)
In addition, the primary sector, which is one of the pillars of the Argentine economy, has also seen a downsizing. Although they have a large amount of agricultural products, they still can't stop the inflation data from rising all the way, reaching a terrifying 211.4% in 2023.
In this case, the Argentines chose to make a man who claimed to cure Argentina with "shock therapy" their president. President Milley has adopted a series of crazy policies since taking office, and whether Argentina, which is very fragile economically, will survive is another matter.
The current situation in Argentina also fully illustrates the problem that developed agriculture cannot support the operation of a country, and industry and science and technology are the core competitiveness of a country's continuous development.
Resources:
[1] Argentine Agricultural Comprehensive Survey, Ministry of Commerce
[2] Argentina surpassed China to become the world's third largest producer of oil crops.www.www.www.www.2012-12-27
[3] Argentina's inflation rate in 2023 reached 211.4%.Reference News, 2024-01-13