MAPUTO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has called for stronger agricultural cooperation between Mozambique and China and expressed hope that the cooperation model of the Chinese-invested Wanbao rice farm could be expanded to other parts of the country.
Chapo made the remarks Saturday while attending a wheat harvesting ceremony at the Wanbao rice farm in the southern province of Gaza.
During the event, Chapo viewed displays of crops and seeds, including rice, wheat and maize, and learned about the farm's cooperation with local farmers.
Agriculture is of great importance to Mozambique, Chapo said, calling on the two countries to further strengthen capacity building and cooperation to enhance Mozambique's food production capacity.
Shao Jiayun, general manager of the Wanbao rice farm, said the farm plants about 3,500 hectares of rice annually, including around 1,000 hectares cultivated in cooperation with local farmers, producing about 20,000 tonnes of paddy rice and 12,000 tonnes of processed rice each year.
This year, following small-scale trial planting last year, the company planted about 667 hectares of wheat and achieved a good harvest, he said.
Shao said the farm currently works with about 350 to 400 local farming households each year. By introducing improved crop varieties, promoting agricultural technologies, providing machinery and offering production guidance, the project has helped participating farmers increase their yields.
Some farmers working with the farm have seen grain yields rise from about one to 1.5 tonnes per hectare in the past to between five and seven tonnes per hectare, he said.
Adriano Francisco Bila is one of the local farmers cooperating with the Wanbao rice farm. He joined the project in 2020, starting with one hectare of farmland.
Bila said the income generated from farming has gradually improved his family's living conditions, enabling him to secure access to water and electricity at home and support his children's education.
"Things that once seemed beyond my reach have now become possible through farming," Bila said, hoping to continue cooperating with Wanbao and receive further support for agricultural production. ■
