STORY: Chinese hybrid rice helps farmers in Madagascar increase yield
DATELINE: Oct. 14, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:14
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ECONOMY/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the tomb of Yuan Longping
2. various of Rakotoson Philibert presenting a bowl of hybrid rice to the tomb of Yuan Longping
3. various of hybrid rice planting in Madagascar
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): HU YUEFANG, Chinese hybrid rice expert
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHANG LIJUN, Executive director of Africa sub-center in Mahitsy, China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center
6. various of hybrid rice planting in Madagascar

STORYLINE:

In June, a bowl of hybrid rice from Africa was presented as a special offering at the tomb of Yuan Longping, China's "father of hybrid rice."

The gift was brought in person by Rakotoson Philibert, former secretary general of the Ministry of Agriculture of Madagascar.

Following a series of procedures such as variety selection, and risk analysis for potential foreign species invasion, Chinese hybrid rice has been planted in the soil of Madagascar and brought to tables of African families.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): HU YUEFANG, Chinese hybrid rice expert
"By using fertilizers and practicing meticulous farming techniques, we can achieve a yield of 11 tonnes per hectare. We provide technical guidance to the local farmers, facilitating the retention of water within the soil. This will help improve the soil conditions. When farmers witness these improvements in the yields, there's no need for us to speak or advertise; they, on their own, expand their cultivation areas and promote our methods."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHANG LIJUN, Executive director of Africa sub-center in Mahitsy, China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center
"Academician Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice," had two dreams, one is the dream of enjoying the cool under the hybrid rice plants, and the second is the dream of global coverage of hybrid rice. He hoped that more countries facing food shortages would adopt hybrid rice, enabling their farmers and their people to have enough to eat. It was Mr. Yuan who personally organized our international cooperation team to analyze the basic conditions of over 20 African countries. Finally, Yuan selected Madagascar as the country where we established our first hybrid rice aid demonstration center."

By December 2022, the planting area of Chinese hybrid rice in Madagascar was 75,000 hectares, with an average output of around 7.5 tonnes per hectare, much higher than other local breeds that produce 3 tonnes per hectare.

So far Chinese hybrid rice has been introduced to over 20 African countries.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)