ANTANANARIVO, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- As the rainy season approaches, farmer Jean Jacques Landry is busy plowing his hybrid rice paddy near Lake Alaotra, about 300 km from Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital, in preparation for the new planting season.
Landry is among a growing number of Malagasy farmers benefiting from years of China-Madagascar cooperation in hybrid rice cultivation. Since a China-aided hybrid rice demonstration center project was launched in 2007, Chinese agricultural experts have introduced high-yielding rice varieties and cultivation techniques adapted to local conditions.
To date, Chinese hybrid rice has been planted on a cumulative area of 90,000 hectares in Madagascar, with an average yield of about 7.5 tonnes per hectare, two to three times that of traditional local varieties. Madagascar now has the largest area under hybrid rice cultivation in Africa.
BETTER SEEDS, BIGGER HARVESTS
Rice cultivation has a long history in Madagascar, yet domestic production has struggled to meet the country's staple food needs due to constraints including seed quality, farming techniques, and infrastructure.
Nineteen years ago, Chinese agricultural expert Hu Yuefang and other technicians arrived in Madagascar with hybrid rice seeds and cultivation techniques under the demonstration center project, aiming to help the technology take root on the island.
Given Madagascar's diverse climatic and environmental conditions, ranging from tropical rainforests and semi-arid regions to swamps and volcanic ash soils, finding suitable hybrid rice varieties was no easy task.
"For hybrid rice to take root here, we first had to find the right seeds," Hu said.
Carrying dozens of carefully selected rice seed samples, Hu and his team conducted a series of planting trials across the island's major rice-growing regions.
Years of painstaking work paid off when the team successfully developed five rice varieties suited to local conditions. The varieties combine high yields with resistance to drought, flooding, and lodging.
According to Hu, the rice varieties yielded two to three times as much as traditional local varieties. Impressed by their high productivity, villagers fondly nicknamed Chinese hybrid rice "Tsarabe," meaning "excellent" in Malagasy.
KNOWLEDGE SHARING BOOSTS PRODUCTION
"We must not only provide good seeds, but also teach farmers how to grow good rice," Hu said.
From sowing and raising seedlings to managing pests and diseases, he demonstrated each step of the cultivation process himself. To communicate more effectively with local farmers, he spent three years learning Malagasy.
Alongside field demonstrations, Chinese experts have also held monthly classroom training sessions at a local agricultural training center.
Over the years, Chinese agricultural experts have conducted hundreds of training sessions on hybrid rice cultivation in Madagascar, directly training more than 2,000 people and passing on techniques to tens of thousands of local farmers through indirect training and knowledge sharing.
In Mahitsy, about 35 km from Antananarivo, farmer Solomampionona Nantenaina Razafimalala has been growing hybrid rice since 2020. After switching to hybrid varieties and applying an appropriate amount of fertilizer, Razafimalala's rice yields can reach 10 tonnes per hectare.
Today, his family has enough rice to meet its needs throughout the year and earns additional income by selling surplus harvests, allowing it to gradually invest in more agricultural inputs.
Fellow farmer Mbolatiana Anjarasoa Rasolonomenjanahary has had a similar experience. A paddy that once yielded only about five bags of unhusked rice now produces 12 bags with hybrid varieties.
"Our lives have truly changed. We have gained valuable farming experience and become more independent, able to manage production on our own," she said.
According to Zhang Lijun, executive director of the Africa sub-center of the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center, the project has benefited more than 5,000 farming households in Madagascar. The net income from cultivating traditional local rice varieties is approximately 2,000 yuan (about 300 U.S. dollars) per hectare, compared with more than 6,900 yuan per hectare for hybrid rice.
He added that if Madagascar devoted 150,000 hectares of its existing rice-growing land to hybrid rice cultivation, the country could achieve food self-sufficiency.
DEEPENING AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION
In December 2024, the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center and the University of Antananarivo jointly established the China-Madagascar Belt and Road Joint Hybrid Rice Laboratory.
Through collaborative breeding of new rice varieties, personnel exchanges and training, as well as technology demonstrations and promotion, the two sides aim to strengthen Madagascar's domestic capacity for hybrid rice research and development.
Tiana Randriamihanta, Malagasy research project leader at the joint laboratory, said the facility would compare Chinese and Malagasy rice cultivation techniques to improve rice varieties and promote the local application of hybrid rice technology.
The laboratory currently has seven researchers and will focus on advancing hybrid rice research and education, boosting yields and training more technical professionals to support the development of Madagascar's hybrid rice industry.
Madagascar has also established an integrated hybrid rice industry chain encompassing breeding, seed production, cultivation, processing and sales, making it the first African country to commercialize hybrid rice. ■