China Africa Agricultural Cooperation and Co creation of "Hexia Enjoying the Cool"

Global Times Comprehensive Report: "I am now half a 'Malaysian'. My skin is tanned to the same level as the locals, and my language is fluent. I speak 'Malaysian'. Recently, Hu Yuefang, a Chinese agricultural expert who has been rooted in Madagascar for 15 years, told Global Times reporters about her deep feelings for this East African island country. For many years, Chinese agricultural experts and staff like him have been continuously assisting in agricultural cooperation between China and Africa, not only bringing rich experience and advanced technology to African countries, but also sowing the seeds of hope for increasing income and reducing poverty locally.
In the town of Maichi, 35 kilometers away from the capital of Madagascar, Antananarivo, the African branch of the China National Hybrid Rice Engineering and Technology Research Center has a blue sky above their heads and thick soil under their feet. But Hu Yuefang knew that she was not here to enjoy the beautiful scenery, but to promote hybrid rice. Rice is an important food crop in Madagascar. For a long time, due to the lack of high-quality rice seeds and mature planting techniques, the country has had to import a large amount of rice every year. However, the process of promoting hybrid rice is not easy. Hu Yuefang told reporters that although Madagascar has abundant water resources, its arable land has poor soil water retention and water conservancy construction is lagging behind. "After the rain, the rainwater quickly flows away from the land. Moreover, there are no fertilizer factories in the local area, and farmers cannot afford the high cost of imported fertilizers. Therefore, most farmers tend to not use fertilizers or only use a small amount of fertilizers. In this context, hybrid rice can only be considered as having the potential to increase yield.
Fortunately, there are always more solutions than difficulties. Chinese agricultural experts led local people to excavate ditches and provide various training to Madagascar's agricultural department and local agricultural backbone, allowing them to see firsthand the "magic" of Chinese farming methods and Chinese hybrid rice in the fields. This training lasted for 15 years. In addition, they have cultivated three varieties of hybrid rice locally, which can adapt to different altitudes of high, medium, and low altitudes, and have the characteristics of disease and insect resistance, lodging resistance, high yield, and excellent rice quality.

Tina, a local farmer, has been planting Chinese hybrid rice for years. She admitted to reporters that when she first came into contact with hybrid rice in 2017, she was somewhat worried. However, it has been proven that for the same planting area, the yield of local varieties is 900 kilograms, while the yield of hybrid rice can reach 2 tons. Tina said that increasing production and income has made her very happy. She hopes that the government can actively cooperate in promoting hybrid rice and achieve food independence as soon as possible. According to Yuan's Madagascar Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., which is deeply involved in the cooperation between China and Malaysia on hybrid rice, the cumulative promotion area of Chinese hybrid rice in Madagascar has reached over 75000 hectares since 2007. The current average yield per hectare can reach around 7.5 tons, which is 2 to 3 times the local average yield of rice per hectare.

Ferno Andreamanarina, Director General of Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock in Madagascar, told Global Times that localizing seed production is crucial for the large-scale promotion of hybrid rice. To address this issue, Yuan's Seed Industry has established a breeding base in Madagascar to reduce the planting cost of hybrid rice and further expand the planting area. Hu Yuefang, who harbors ideals, is also determined to continue to persevere. "I cannot leave, I must overcome difficulties, build a seed base, and achieve the goal of producing 5000 tons per year.
Chinese personnel supporting agriculture in Uganda also face various challenges, such as poor soil fertility, limited crop varieties, and outdated production technology. Since 2012, China has been sending agricultural experts and technical personnel to Uganda under the framework of South South cooperation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, continuously sharing knowledge and technology with local farmers to improve agricultural productivity and enhance sustainability. As of now, the project has successfully carried out two phases, and the third phase was officially launched in January this year. Zhang Xiaoqiang, the leader of the local Chinese agricultural expert group, told reporters that the China Ukraine South South cooperation project has achieved phased results, including 25 agricultural technology training sessions, with over 1500 participants; Develop high yield technical specifications for crops such as rice, millet, and sorghum, effectively improving the production technology level and ability of agricultural technicians and farmers in the project area. According to Ugandan media reports, the comprehensive apple technology guidance provided by Chinese experts at the Kabela project site alone has benefited thousands of fruit farmers, with a 5-fold increase in local fruit farmers' profits compared to before the project was launched.
Regarding Sino African agricultural cooperation, Sylvester Anai, a senior researcher at the Biotechnology Research Institute of Jomo Kenyatta Agricultural University in Kenya, believes that China's rural transformation and agricultural modernization are impressive, including the application of precision agriculture and advanced digital technology to lift tens of millions of people out of poverty. China's continuous provision of technical support and professional knowledge in agricultural modernization is likely to bring a revolution in food and nutrition security to Africa.