Huge advantages

Rice is an important crop for Burundi to ensure its food security. However, even in high-yield area, the country’s rice yield is relatively low: only four tons per hectare. How to increase rice yield became a key concern for Burundi’s Ministry of Agriculture.

After their arrival in Burundi, the first task of the Chinese agricultural experts was to conduct a two-month extensive and in-depth field research. They found that Burundi’s temperature and light conditions are very favorable for crop growth. However, poor infrastructure, inadequate investment in agriculture, lack of research capacities and poor access to technology seriously hindered crop productivity.

Seedling technology being a major factor to quickly and significantly enhance rice yield, the Chinese expert group decided to focus on the promotion of seedling technology on rice dry seedbed.

According to Yang, dry seedbed seedlings have significant advantages over the Burundian traditional seedling technique. This technology allows cultivating high-quality seedlings with fewer water and fertilizer requirement. Also, the technology uses only 12 to 20 percent of the per-hectare sowing quantity of the traditional technique. It makes possible the promotion of high-yield and high-quality hybrid rice and super rice varieties’ planting over large areas.