Agriculture in Malaszec
Almost 71% of Malaszec’s land is agricultural land used for grazing, irrigation farming, and dryland farming. Nearly all farming in Malaszec is automated and managed by decreasing numbers of professional farmers in rural areas. Rural farmers generally raise corn and soy, which displaced wheat as the most produced Malaszec crop during the transition from communist to federal Malaszec. Production of magical plants is mostly concentrated around Andeija, which has ideal conditions for magical farming due to its tidal rivers which brings mana from the ground into the surrounding flood plains. Many cities have had their communist-era green belts converted into vertical farms producing cash crops. Nearly all magical farms are owned and run by subsidiary companies of the wards, but most are legally independent farms with farmers receiving a license to farm on corporate-owned land.
History
The first agrarian societies in Malaszec were started by faeries in the tidal rivers of what is known as Andeija. In addition to grain crops, they cultivated various magical plants because of the ideal conditions the tidal river provided. As human and elven civilizations arose in the north, much of the Malaszec subcontinent’s arable land became farms for wheat, barley, and flax. While there was some cultivation of magical plants in the north, most notably in elven country, the south greatly outclassed the north in production. Advancements in irrigation allowed the northern empires to greatly expand their farming output.
Agriculture in the Dovreijan desert was historically limited, and the population was sparse. Inhabitants seldom had access to the irrigation technology that would have made the area more effective farmland. Slash-and-burn agricultural was predominant for much of Dovrija’s known inhabited history, and it was not until after the forced relocation of faeries to the area during Imperial Malaszec and the creation of major irrigation works during the Dovreijan Boom that the area became both more populated and a voluminous agricultural producer.
Major agricultural products
The crops with the biggest production in Malaszec are corn and soy, which have a variety of applications beyond foodstuffs. These crops overtook former staples such as wheat and barley during the transition from communist to federal Malaszec, as the quotas which were in place started to break down and farmers started prioritizing crops that the newly forming corporations would pay for. Corn and soy are used to create cattle feed, biofuel, bioplastics, artificial sweeteners, synthetic meat, among other things. This flexibility, combined with the availability of genetically modified and magically enhanced crop seed massively favors these two crops. Though diminishing in importance, crops such as cotton and citrus remain staples of agriculture in the southeast. Irrigation during the Dovreijan Boom led to an explosion in agricultural products in the desert.
Although synthetic meats made from soy protein are dominant in the Malaszec meat market, cattle and sheep remain important to national agriculture, particularly in Rescija and Astlod. Real meat is either consumed by the upper-mid and upper class, who can afford it, or is exported internationally. Same goes for other animal products such as milk, eggs, wool, and leather. While synthetic substitutes have a greater market share, their niche as luxury products creates a bigger profit margin.
In areas receptive to magical farming, Andeija and eastern Rescija in particular, large-scale magical agriculture produces Dorovian crossbloom, firesurfer, among others. These magical crops are important for the apotheceutical industry, which uses them to make drugs. The firesurfer, for example, is used to make mana supplement for treating mana deficiency.
Vertical farming products
The green belts that were established in cities across Malaszec during the communist era are typically replaced by vertical farms. These are run by the municipal corporations governing each individual cities, contrasting with conventional farms run by or under license of agribusiness subsidiaries. These vertical farms are more geared towards tourists and grow exotic plants within climate controlled confines. During the Imperial Malaszec colony of T’annkirne, misted manaberries, used to make Tenvekrost (a Malaszec liquor made from misted manaberries) became popular. Though its role in apotheceuticals was replaced by domestically produced firesurfer, the berries remained in demand. The manaberries cultivated in Malaszec’s vertical farms, though more expensive than those grown in T’annkirne due to low yields, are preferred by some for their reportedly unique flavor profile and experience.