Feature: Madagascar to increase rice yield using Chinese hybrid rice

Like other rice farmers in Madagascar, 19-year old Patrick Razanakoto is hopeful of increasing his rice yield after using Chinese hybrid rice seeds.

"I decided to use hybrid rice when I saw my neighbour's yield," Razanakoto told Xinhua in his hometown of Ambatondrazaka, 268 km northeast of Madagascar's capital Antananarivo.

"Before, I was only cultivating one hectare of land and harvesting less than two tons of rice. But I decided to increase the piece of farmland by renting additional three hectares and I now expect to harvest at least four tons of rice per hectare after I started using hybrid rice seeds," the young farmer said.

Razanakoto says "a better future for his family" is what has motivated him to increase his production."

"My dream in life is to be rich like everybody else. After some years, my priority is to have my own land," he said, adding that he would not wish to see his child suffering like him and wanted him to study and become a doctor.

Razanakoto has rented three hectares from Matagri, a company that popularizes Chinese hybrid rice dubbed Weichu-903. It rents land to farmers in Ambatondrazaka, gives them seeds and fertilizers and also buys their paddy.

According to Andre Ranaivoson, the head of Matagri, the company deals with two categories of farmers, with the first category comprising farmers with their own piece of land and the second comprising those who are facilitated with everything, starting with land.

"We give them seeds, equipments and money. After the harvest, both parties calculate their cost of production and deduct it from the profits," Ranaivoson said.

He said whereas one hectare of land will require 26 kg of hybrid seeds, it can produce between 8 to 12 tons of hybrid rice after 152 days of cultivation.

Ambatondrazaka Regional Director of Agricultural Development Samuel Rakotondrabe told Xinhua the region has four varieties of rice among which Weichu-903 is the most appreciated by the farmers currently for its yields and taste.

Rakotondrabe said during the 2014-2015 farming season, only 135 hectares of land in Ambatondrazaka were placed under hybrid rice cultivation.

A local chief, Jean Yves Ranaivonirina, told Xinhua Madagascar will no longer experience food insecurity challenges if all the 100,000 hectares of arable land in Ambatondrazaka, the country's breadbasket, can be placed under hybrid rice.

He noted that besides its good taste, the Weichu-903 rice variety could be cultivated at any time of the year, it has a higher yield and fetches more money on the market than the other rice varieties. A kilo of its paddy is one third more expecnsive than other rice varieties.

Rice is the staple food in Madagascar. According to statistics from the National Instute of Statistics (INSTAT), most Malagasy households eat rice three times a day while a Malagasy consumes an average of 114 kg of rice per year.

INSTAT notes that the country currently produces only 5.9 million tons of rice per year, which is below the required quantity for 22 million Madagascans. The low production has been attributed to use of poor quality seeds, lack of proper farming equipments and shortage of fertilizer. Enditem