Improving and industrializing rice production in Madagascar

On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, alongside the Japanese Ambassador to Madagascar, the Resident Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the President of the University of Antananarivo, embarked on a visit to the experimental plots of the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences in Ankatso (ESSA).

This visit served as an opportunity to observe the technical outcomes of the support project aimed at enhancing productivity and industrialization within Madagascar’s rice sector, known as Papriz. In collaboration with the Malagasy government, JICA is providing funding for several projects to bolster the National Rice Development Strategy (SNDR) and foster rice self-sufficiency. Among these initiatives, Papriz, currently in its third phase, plays a pivotal role.

Papriz has notably achieved a significant increase in the average yield of rice producers, elevating it from 2.3 to 5.58 tons per hectare. Additionally, the Fy Vary project, funded by JICA and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), is contributing to the advancement of rice production in Madagascar by introducing new high-yielding varieties and innovative techniques, such as P-dipping.

The collaboration between ESSA and Papriz facilitates field testing of various techniques. Specifically, two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Papriz technical package, P-dipping, and the newly developed rice varieties.