Seeds of hybrid rice from Hunan cultivated in Africa

Zhang Lijun, general manager of Yuan Longping's Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., has stayed in Madagascar for 11 years.Zhang Lijun is delighted to see the hybrid rice from Hunan grown well in Madagascar. He witnessed the localization of hybrid rice in Africa. He brought Chinese agricultural experts a batch after a batch. During this period, hybrid rice rooted in Madagascar with great production.

“We selected a number of hybrid rice varieties for comparative testing in Madagascar. After 11 years of trial demonstration and promotion, we successfully selected and approved 5 hybrid rice varieties.” Zhang Lijun introduced that these five hybrid rice varieties have Excellent characteristics on high yield, drought tolerance, flood tolerance, lodging resistance, and high quality. In April this year, the first large-scale hybrid rice had a successful production of seeds.

At present, Madagascar is the country with the largest area and the highest yield of hybrid rice in Africa. Nearly 20,000 hectares of land have been planted with hybrid rice, and the annual yield of rice is 60,000 tons. The average yield is more than double that of the local varieties.

After working in hybrid rice international cooperation for more than 20 years, Zhang Lijun has been to many underdeveloped countries, where people have great demand for food and full of expectations for food and clothing. Zhang Lijun feels that it is very meaningful to be able to meet these expectations with his own skills and hard work. "I feel that it is very valuable to be able to work together with so many brothers and sisters in the field of hybrid rice for a lifetime, which is more meaningful than making money."

Link: 中非故事·种子|张立军：满足非洲人民对温饱的期望