East African agriculture had developed slowly, and only now had it truly erased the gap with Europe and America. Although its pesticide and fertilizer output lagged behind Germany's, it was not greatly different from that of other countries in total volume. Of course, the picture changed entirely when discussed on a per capita basis.
After all, Germany's national conditions differed from those of East Africa and other countries. East Africa, Tsarist Russia, and the United States possessed vast territories and abundant usable land resources, while Britain and France had extensive overseas colonies that could share the burden of agricultural development in their homelands.
Under such circumstances, Germany's current advances in agricultural technology could be said to stand alone at the summit of the world. Take crop yields: at the beginning of German unification, grain output had been just over seventeen million tons, while it had now risen to more than twenty-five million tons. Potato output had increased from over twenty million tons to more than forty million tons, and sugar beet output had likewise risen from over twenty million tons to more than thirty million tons.
This was clearly due to Germany's concentrated breakthroughs in agricultural breeding, fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural machinery. The country's ruling class mainly consisted of the Junker nobility. As landowners themselves, they attached great importance to advances in agricultural technology.
At present, in terms of yield per mu alone, Germany ranked first in the world. Its unit yield was far higher even than that of France, whose land was more fertile, nearly twice that of the United States and East Africa, and more than double that of Tsarist Russia.
Take potato yields per unit area. Germany produced around one hundred and fifty quintals of potatoes per hectare. Tsarist Russia ranked second, with only a little over