Culinary and Agricultural PODs

Potatoes and Tomatoes made it to the Old world and were well recieved.
What about Quinoa and amaranth...

More nutritous than any cereal, with high protien and amino acis content
and drought resistant and can grow in low quality soils..

Amaranth is already successfull in some africans countries like Uganda and is grown in India.
 
Potatoes and Tomatoes made it to the Old world and were well recieved.
What about Quinoa and amaranth...

More nutritous than any cereal, with high protien and amino acis content
and drought resistant and can grow in low quality soils..

Amaranth is already successfull in some africans countries like Uganda and is grown in India.

I made a thread about amaranth in Russia, in OTL the Russian Government made major experiments with it during the 1830s and 1840s. Most of them did poorly, and Amaranth is pretty difficult to harvest.
 
One that I've been thinking about recently: What if Donald Nixon's restaurant had been successful and the Nixonburger spread throughout California and possibly the nation?
 
Actually, sorghum is far more productive than maize, and easier to grow. It can also grow in the north just as well as wheat, though it would take a little tweaking over generations to get it to full capacity. Millet is also more productive than maize and wheat.

You see, it's very strange to me that these highly productive plants have not been chosen as the most-widespread in the developed world.

It was their hardiness and productivity that helped drive sorghum and millet into decline in Asia. For much of history, sorghum and millet were the staples of China and Japan. Rice was grown mostly in southern China due to the amount of water it needs and the labor necessary to plant and harvest rice. Millet was established as a major crop in Japan long before the introduction of rice. Millet could withstand drought and still be productive; peasants could count on a reliable crop every year. In contrast, rice needs enormous amounts of water. In a drought year or after an epidemic kills off much of the labor force, rice cannot feed a village. Since rice was scarce, the only people who could have constant access to it were the rich. Once rice became more abundant, the people who could now emulate the rich in diet did so. Sorghum and millet became associated with poor country folk and times of scarcity.

In terms of labor needed, sorghum and millet vastly outweigh rice for the amount of grain produced. Since they are customarily eaten with the bran intact, sorghum and millet are also far more nutritious. Quinoa requires processing to remove bitter tasting compounds and is unadapted to low elevations. Amaranth is regaining its popularity, but suffered a major setback during the Spanish conquest of Central America.
 
In terms of labor needed, sorghum and millet vastly outweigh rice for the amount of grain produced.

No that is simply not true. While rice was extremely labor intensive, 2-3 harvests could be completed in a given year. This allowed for enormous agricultural surpluses which contributed greatly to the traditional wealth and large populations of the South East Asian states.
 
No that is simply not true. While rice was extremely labor intensive, 2-3 harvests could be completed in a given year. This allowed for enormous agricultural surpluses which contributed greatly to the traditional wealth and large populations of the South East Asian states.

Notice how I said in terms of labor needed. With millet and sorghum, all you need to do is to clear and plow the field, scatter the seed, and wait for rain. In paddy style rice farming (the most productive), the fields need to be cleared, plowed and flooded, rice seeds sprouted in a separate germination bed, and then each seedling individually planted by hand. In the time it takes to construct a paddy field and plant seedlings, several fields can be cleared and planted with millet or sorghum. Also, plowing a dry field can be done with any draft animal. Plowing a paddy requires a water buffalo.

Foxtail millet matures in 90 days, which, discounting day length needs, can potentially give you 4 crops a year with a fraction of the labor needed for rice. Millet is also far more drought resistant. It only needs water for the first month or so of growth.

Southeast Asia could afford to grow rice because rainfall is largely consistent in the growing season. Places like northern China needed crops like millet to sustain the population. Even places with more rainfall like Japan took a long time for rice to fully supplant millet in the diet.
 
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