Inhospitable Environments

[Sandwiche Island]

When I created my nation, I was able to simultaneously develop a thriving agricultural sector and a barren, inhospitable environment. I'm wondering how a nation can develop a thriving agricultural sector in an inhospitable environment. Could someone educate me?

[Farnhamia]

Moving this over to Technical, though I'm not sure that the answer isn't simply "Because."

[Sandwiche Island]

Moving this over to Technical, though I'm not sure that the answer isn't simply "Because."

I posted this in General because I'm wondering how it's possible in real life, not in NS.

[Herargon]

It depends on the size of your nation, if I recall it correctly.
When I was about 6 million small, it said the same.
Somewhere, at 40 million, that tekst changed.
After a while, it again changed when I hit 130 million.


However, it could be too that it has something to do with issues.
If you haven't done a issue yet since the beginning of your nation, it often says ''an inhospitable, barren environment'' or something like that. When you do an issue i.e. space agency expenditure, and you click for ''more expenditure'', your text very likely will change into displaying that your nation runs a space program.

EDIT: Oh, and if it is about IRL, as I now see; yes, it is possible to live in such environments.

Take the Inuit on the North Pole for example, and the Tuaregs in the Sahara.
They can live in such environments because it's their culture and they have learned to survive in that environment.

So you can imagine that your people all are living with either very warm clothes, or with clothes that fully cover themselves.

[Farnhamia]

Moving this over to Technical, though I'm not sure that the answer isn't simply "Because."

I posted this in General because I'm wondering how it's possible in real life, not in NS.

That wasn't clear, was it? Please touch up the OP to make it clear.

[Edgy Opinions]

In Israel they have plenty of agriculture in the middle of very hot desert.

[MERIZoC]

Depends on the level of inhospitable. There comes a point when you think, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't be living here".

[Risottia]

Depends on the level of inhospitable. There comes a point when you think, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't be living here".

Venus is a good example of that.

[Edgy Opinions]

Depends on the level of inhospitable. There comes a point when you think, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't be living here".

Venus is a good example of that.

Parts of its atmosphere are more easily inhabitable than Mars, though.

[Risottia]

Venus is a good example of that.

Parts of its atmosphere are more easily inhabitable than Mars, though.

Both are better than the Sahara's Great Ergs. At least, Venus and Mars kill you quickly.

[The Dominion Of The Corn]

As a Nebraskan, and especially with my name, I feel qualified to speak of this
There are two big ways that agriculture can thrive in an inhospitable environment. First off, there are certain crops that thrive in different environments. Wheat, corn, potatoes, and other common crops come from different environments. Regardless of the soil quality, the weather, the temperature, one of these crops could be farmed. Also, there are artificial methods, such as irrigation, greenhouses, or genetically modified crops. So even with a barren environment, the right crops and the right technology can produce a thriving agricultural society.

[Securitan]

You could always grow crops in greenhouses on pedestals hundreds of meters above the land.

[Risottia]

To know how much "inhospitable" the environment is, we should know something about some key factors. Let's assume an Earth-like planet.

Average winter temperature (stays under freezing point for how long?)
Average summer temperature (stays above 40°C for how long?)
Average precipitation (how many mm per month?)
Average windspeed
Soil type (sand, sandstone, redstone, granite, gneiss, dolomite, loess, basalts, salt...)
Are there freshwater rivers/lakes?
Are there glaciers?

[Sarigen]

When I created my nation, I was able to simultaneously develop a thriving agricultural sector and a barren, inhospitable environment. I'm wondering how a nation can develop a thriving agricultural sector in an inhospitable environment. Could someone educate me?

Many farms are becoming more advanced, and some crops are made entirely by machine in buildings. Trend is likely to become more pronounced in the future, and it's fully possible that this is how your nation sustains itself.

[Romalae]

It all has to do with environmental adaptation. In geography, it's called possibilism. It's how things like terraced farming and transhumance came about; humans finding clever ways to circumvent their environmental realities.

[Val Halla]

True inhospitable environment? Scunthorpe.

[Napkiraly]

Irrigation, dry farming, using hardier crops, etc. It also depends on the size of the country. Large swaths of Canada are ill suited for agriculture, yet because Canada is so huge, it has a large, thriving agricultural sector.

It's actually surprising to see how much of a countries land is considered arable and fit for agriculture. It's not a whole lot. IIRC the country with the most is Moldova at like 54%.

[Laerod]

Irrigation, dry farming, using hardier crops, etc. It also depends on the size of the country. Large swaths of Canada are ill suited for agriculture, yet because Canada is so huge, it has a large, thriving agricultural sector.

It's actually surprising to see how much of a countries land is considered arable and fit for agriculture. It's not a whole lot. IIRC the country with the most is Moldova at like 54%.

The best farmland is usually plastered with asphalt anyway, since the settlements that are modern metropolises tended to concentrate on the best available.

[Edgy Opinions]

The best farmland is usually plastered with asphalt anyway, since the settlements that are modern metropolises tended to concentrate on the best available.

This.

The amazing orange plantation with smell to feel kilometers away that was located where I live now turned, following WWII, into a commuter town for people who don't have money enough to live in Rio per se. Additionally, urban sprawl turned the microclimate from mild to hellish.

[Dakini]

In principle, if you have issues like a desert near a large body of water, you can use solar towers to distill water for irrigation or they can be used as combination greenhouses/power plants if you have an environment that's a bit too cold (though obviously you still need sun, so you need a place that's not at very high latitude or too cloudy).

...but if that's not why your environment is inhospitable then that wouldn't help.

[Dread Lady Nathicana]

As it turns out, you posted this in Technical too, and got an answer from the admin ... and you haven't expounded on this here to make it worth keeping open, as Farn suggested. Locking.