Published on : 15/07/2022 – 00:29
France accounts for only 2% of European rice production, which is to say very little. But the French expertise is no less real. Several countries on the continent are setting up exchanges with agronomists and rice farmers from the Camargue, the French rice-growing region.
« The two main African countries we work with are Morocco and Senegal. Senegal is relatively old, and Morocco is more recent says François Clément, director of the French rice centre. ” These countries are determined to structure the sector. The difficulty they encounter is that they start from scratch and they come to seek the technical skills of centers like ours or those like Interizi, our Italian partner, to see if we can give them a guide to good practices. with a view to professionalizing their production. “, he adds.
A production that Moroccans would like to improve. A few weeks ago, a pioneering rice company joined forces with the French Rice Center for this purpose.
Madagascar lack of seed
Another country in search of expertise, Madagascar. Informal contacts have been forged this year between Camargue rice farmers and the Malagasy government. A small delegation was in the Camargue in June. Raphaël Rozières, rice farmer, welcomed them.
« We showed them all our agricultural structures, because we explained to them that the most important thing is the couple irrigation and sanitation. They were shown what material was being used and how it was done, so they might research areas that might be easily mined. In fact, they want to be independent at any cost. »
Madagascar, which might import 700,000 tons of rice this year, according to the latest forecasts from the US Department of Agriculture, has long been seeking self-sufficiency, recalls Ny Hasinambinintsoa Masezamana, executive secretary of the National Platform for Consultation for the Rice Sector. .
There is a lot to be done to develop the sector. And this at all levels. Seed production is one of the weak points of the country, explains Gérard Andriamandimby, director of the union of agricultural organizations: “ Only 1,000 tonnes of certified rice seed are produced. We can’t do better, because we don’t have the techniques or the means. We only have one laboratory for certification. So we’ve been working on this work for two years, in particular with seed producers in France. »
As part of these exchanges, a delegation of Malagasy rice farmers and seed producers is expected in France in September.
► To read also: Africa increasingly hungry for imported rice
