Chinese hybrid rice growing has helped to improve Madagascar's food security, with locally adapted hybrid varieties now covering 90,000 hectares, making the island country Africa's largest hybrid rice producer by area.

ANTANANARIVO, May 27 (Xinhua) -- "Before, our land barely produced enough to feed us. Now, with hybrid rice, we not only eat our fill, but sell the surplus and even save to buy more land," a farmer called Femosoa Rakatondratsara told me, smiling beside his blossoming rice field.

Mahitsy, a town some 35 km north-west of Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital, is home to the Chinese Hybrid Rice High-Yield Demonstration Base.

In the village of Anosiarivo, another hybrid rice site, vibrant paddies stretched to the horizon under blue skies and fluffy clouds. Ramboasalama Anolalaina Ratsina, an expert from the Ministry of Agriculture, was leading local farmers in pest control.

Having twice received planting training in central China's Hunan Province, he is now a key figure in local hybrid rice promotion.

"All my planting skills came from Chinese experts," he said. Over the years, Chinese experts in Madagascar have not only promoted quality seeds but also passed on knowledge, from hands-on fieldwork to theoretical training. Now, technicians like Ratsina are sharing that expertise with farmers across Madagascar.

After Irene Nonenjanahary's first hybrid rice harvest brought in a bumper yield last year, she is more confident than ever. "We used to rely on the weather," she said. "Now we rely on technology."

In 2007, China launched the hybrid rice demonstration center project in Madagascar, led by the Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Yuan's Hi-Tech Seed. It was one of the 10 agricultural technology demonstration centers pledged at the first Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

"Farmers here relied entirely on the mercy of nature. Poor seeds, limited knowledge, and weak infrastructure meant many couldn't even grow enough to eat," said Hu Yuefang, a Chinese agronomist.

"The first challenge to promote hybrid rice was choosing the right seed," said Hu. To identify varieties suited to Madagascar's climate and soil, he and his team carried dozens of seed samples across almost every major rice-growing region of the island, eventually developing five locally adapted varieties with high yields, drought tolerance and flood resistance.

"But the real challenge was getting farmers to accept these 'foreign' seeds," said Chinese agricultural expert Song Chunfang. To prove the benefits, they planted side-by-side demonstration plots -- one with local rice, the other with hybrid. Using the same planting methods, the yield of hybrid rice was two to three times that of local varieties. Impressed by the yield, farmers dubbed it "Tsarabe" -- "the best thing" in Malagasy.

Hu recalled living in leaky thatched huts, collecting rainwater to drink, and trekking kilometers for firewood. "Once, while transforming a swampland, a tree branch pierced my foot. It was the villagers who carried me out," he said.

Today, hybrid rice cultivation in Madagascar has reached a cumulative 90,000 hectares, with average yields of 7.5 tons per hectare -- two to three times that of local varieties -- making it Africa's largest hybrid rice producer by area.

"I hope one day hybrid rice will be planted across Madagascar," said Eric Laperozy, my Malagasy colleague. "That way, more families can eat well, earn more, and my country can achieve food self-sufficiency."

Editor's note: In 2007, China launched the hybrid rice demonstration center project in Madagascar, led by Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Yuan's Hi-Tech Seed. It was one of 10 agricultural technology demonstration centers pledged at the first Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Nurtured by Chinese expertise and imbued with Madagascar's aspirations, hybrid rice has flourished in the country through the joint efforts of both peoples.

Xinhua journalists have recently embarked on a journey to the island nation of Madagascar, and reported on the story of agricultural cooperation between Madagascar and China.