Uncategorized
Chinese hybrid rice boosts rice supply in Madagascar
By Yan Yunming, People’s Daily
Over an hour’s drive away from Antananarivo, capital city of Madagascar, there lies Fiadanakely village, Mahitsy, a town northwest of the capital. Rice in the vast paddy fields was earring as breezes brushed against the green seedlings.
Dina, a 44-year-old rice grower in the village, was checking the growth of her crops on the ridge fields. “We will reap the rice a month later,” she said, expressing her confidence in a harvest.
The rice grown by Dina was a hybrid variety tailored by Chinese experts for local farmers, which featured high productivity, high quality and multi-resistance. Dina started growing the variety in a trial planting in 2017 when Madagascar agricultural technicians and Chinese experts came to the village to promote hybrid rice technologies.
According to her, the field for testing could only harvest 300 kilograms of rice in the past, and the woman didn’t have much expectation for the Chinese hybrid rice, especially in a dry year. However, she ended up reaping more than 900 kilograms of rice on the lot.
Tina could still remember the surprise even years later. After the testing, Dina planted Chinese hybrid rice on all her land.
In the beginning, Dina knew little about the growing techniques of hybrid rice. “Chinese experts taught us hand in hand to sow and transplant in a scientific way. No matter what problems we had, be it droughts, waterlogging or insect attacks, they would always offer timely help for us,” Dina told People’s Daily.
She said that due to the local climatic conditions, the rice yield was low in the past and the surpluses each year could only feed her family for less than six months. She still had to spend a lot of money on buying food.
“Now, our rice yield has improved from 3 tons to nearly 10 tons per hectare, and we would still have a surplus of 800 kilograms of grain at the year’s end. We sell the rice at 1,300 ariary ($0.3) per kilogram, and that makes our main family income,” Dina noted.
She told People’s Daily that growing Chinese hybrid rice has led her family to a better life. The increased income afforded the family a newly-built two-story building with red walls and white tiles beside her rice fields.
Rice is an important source of food in Madagascar, where 44 percent of the arable land is planted with rice and 70 percent of the population is engaged in rice planting. However, rice production was low for a long time in the country and couldn’t satisfy its domestic demand due to complicated climate conditions and a lack of fine varieties and core cultivation techniques.
In 2007, a China-aided demonstration center of hybrid rice was launched in Madagascar, which brought a batch of Chinese agricultural experts to the country in the Indian Ocean, including Hu Yuefang.
In more than ten years, they have visited almost all rice-growing regions in Madagascar and trained hundreds of local technicians in hybrid rice.
“When we just arrived here, rice was not available for many local residents, and they could only take cassavas, sweet potatoes and corn as substitutes. Under the assistance of Chinese experts, rice is coming to the tables of more and more local families,” Hu said.
Local agricultural technician Aro is a student of Hu. As an official of Madagascar’s agricultural department, he has twice joined training programs in Changsha, central China’s Hunan province.
After returning to his country, Aro has been committed to offering technical support in hybrid rice planting for growers in Ambohidratrimo, a town in the central highlands of Madagascar.
“More and more farmers are starting to grow hybrid rice. In the region that I work in, there are over 200 people skilled in growing hybrid rice,” Aro said, hoping that Madagascar and China could carry out closer agricultural cooperation.
“Chinese hybrid rice helps Madagascar achieve self-sufficiency in rice supply. I hope it can be promoted to more African countries and thus help relieve the issue of food security in Africa,” he told People’s Daily.
In 2019, the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center opened its African branch in Madagascar. It is committed to training advanced agricultural technicians and selecting hybrid rice varieties that suit the diverse climate conditions in the region.
Fanja Raharinomena, former secretary-general of the Malagasy Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, noted that hybrid rice development is under smooth progress thanks to the support of the Chinese government. She said China is a global leader in hybrid rice studies, and thanked the Chinese government’s contributions to the breeding of hybrid rice in Madagascar and to the agricultural development of Africa.
By Fabian Apechihin
The 2026 Constitution Amendment Bill has moved to the state level following its consideration by the National Assembly, paving the way for state legislatures to consider the proposed amendments.
The development comes amid renewed attention on constitutional reform and ongoing discussions over proposed changes to Nigeria’s governing framework.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has defended FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over allegations surrounding borrowing by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
House spokesperson Akin Rotimi Agbese, speaking in an interview with Channels Television, rejected claims that Wike had undertaken borrowing without the knowledge or approval of the National Assembly.
Agbese said the FCT minister could not independently create a sovereign borrowing obligation, stressing that public borrowing is subject to constitutional, statutory and administrative procedures.
“Wike has committed no infraction in borrowings. There is no basis for the allegation that he has been borrowing money behind the back of the National Assembly,” Agbese said.
He explained that borrowing to finance infrastructure was not unlawful where the required approvals and procedures had been followed.
“Borrowing for infrastructure development is not unlawful in itself, provided the prescribed approvals and procedures are followed,” he added.
The House spokesperson further argued that an increase in the FCT’s debt profile should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of illegal borrowing, citing the scale of infrastructure projects being undertaken in Abuja under Wike.
According to Agbese, the key issue is whether the appropriate approvals were obtained for specific borrowing transactions, rather than simply whether the FCT’s overall debt profile has increased.
The comments come as scrutiny continues over public borrowing, infrastructure financing and the legal procedures governing government debt at both the federal and sub-national levels.
By Fabian Apechihin
The 2026 Constitution Amendment Bill has moved to the state level following its consideration by the National Assembly, paving the way for state legislatures to consider the proposed amendments.
The development comes amid renewed attention on constitutional reform and ongoing discussions over proposed changes to Nigeria’s governing framework.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has defended FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over allegations surrounding borrowing by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
House spokesperson Akin Rotimi Agbese, speaking in an interview with Channels Television, rejected claims that Wike had undertaken borrowing without the knowledge or approval of the National Assembly.
Agbese said the FCT minister could not independently create a sovereign borrowing obligation, stressing that public borrowing is subject to constitutional, statutory and administrative procedures.
“Wike has committed no infraction in borrowings. There is no basis for the allegation that he has been borrowing money behind the back of the National Assembly,” Agbese said.
He explained that borrowing to finance infrastructure was not unlawful where the required approvals and procedures had been followed.
“Borrowing for infrastructure development is not unlawful in itself, provided the prescribed approvals and procedures are followed,” he added.
The House spokesperson further argued that an increase in the FCT’s debt profile should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of illegal borrowing, citing the scale of infrastructure projects being undertaken in Abuja under Wike.
According to Agbese, the key issue is whether the appropriate approvals were obtained for specific borrowing transactions, rather than simply whether the FCT’s overall debt profile has increased.
The comments come as scrutiny continues over public borrowing, infrastructure financing and the legal procedures governing government debt at both the federal and sub-national levels.
By Fabian Apechihin
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reaffirmed its intention to contest the 2027 presidential election despite the decision of Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The party said Wike’s decision was personal and did not alter its position to participate in the presidential election with its candidate, Senator Sandy Onor. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, made the clarification on Wednesday.
According to the party, a recent conversation between Wike and Onor should not be interpreted as a political negotiation between the minister and the PDP.
“He told Nigerians that Sandy is his friend. And they only had a friendly discussion within the umbrella of friendship. So, that is just a personal discussion between him and his friend,” Mohammed said.
He added that Wike’s support for Tinubu did not prevent the PDP from fielding candidates for the presidential, governorship and legislative elections.
Wike had earlier clarified that his support in 2027 was specifically for Tinubu’s presidential re-election and did not amount to an agreement that the PDP would withdraw from other electoral contests. He also said he never promised that the PDP would abandon its candidates for governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
“I said I will support the President from day one. I never told Mr President I will join APC,” Wike said.
The minister also maintained that his proposed Rainbow Coalition was not an arrangement with the All Progressives Congress (APC), but rather a platform through which politicians from different parties could mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election.
The issue has generated disagreement with some APC governors, who have expressed concern about a political arrangement that could affect the party’s candidates at other levels.
APC Progressive Governors’ Forum Chairman, Hope Uzodinma, said the governors would not support any alliance or arrangement that could weaken the APC or adversely affect its candidates.
Meanwhile, APC presidential campaign council spokesperson Ima Niboro has urged Wike and APC governors to end their public exchanges and concentrate on political mobilisation.
“When I said tone down the rhetoric, I do not mean stop working. Stop talking, go and work,” Niboro said.
He urged political leaders to strengthen their grassroots structures and engage directly with voters rather than continue exchanging statements in the media.
“All this shouting is not taking anybody anywhere. Go and work. Go and establish your authority on your political base,” he said.
2026 Constitution Amendment Bill Moves to States
2026 Constitution Amendment Bill Moves to States
2027: PDP Insists on Presidential Contest Despite Wike’s Support for Tinubu
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