1955 - Agriculture

Agriculture

Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) proposes rapid collectivization of Chinese agriculture (see 1950). Other leaders fear a repetition of the Soviet Union's experience in the late 1920s and early '30s, but Mao prevails and peasants who resist are liquidated.

Dwarf indica rice introduced into Taiwan (Formosa) is higher yielding than most varieties but requires lots of fertilizer and insecticides.

Hurricane Janet hits Grenada in the British West Indies, destroying 75 percent of the island's nutmeg trees (see 1858). Grenada's trees have long supplied 40 percent of world nutmeg and mace production, the only other major source is the tiny island of Siame north of the Celebes whose shipments are delayed by troubles in Indonesia, and since it takes 2 months for the nutmeg to reach Singapore and another 2 to reach New York, the price of nutmeg rises from 35ยข per pound to over $2.

Clove trees in Zanzibar suffer from fungus disease carried by ants that may find opportunity in the wounds inflicted on the trees in harvesting. Unskilled natives strip off hard-to-reach branches and it often takes years for the trees to recover.

The National Farmers Organization (NFO) founded by farmers from northwest Missouri and southwest Iowa will engage in collective bargaining in livestock, grain, and milk nationwide. The farmers have been disgruntled by livestock prices lower than production costs.

King Ranch co-owner Richard Miflin Kleberg Sr. dies at Hot Springs, Ark., May 8 at age 67. His spread has grown to encompass 940,000 acres of Texas rangeland.