Antananarivo - The Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, a longtime rice producer, is failing to meet its targets on boosting production and ending its dependency on Asian imports, reports said Wednesday. Rice is the staple crop on Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island which is located off the coast of southern Africa and whose people are among the world's biggest per-capita rice eaters. The rice is mainly grown in upland areas and is irrigated by rainfall.
But the impoverished, cyclone-plagued country does not produce enough rice to feed its rapidly-growing population of around 18 million.
In 2007, as part of the anti-poverty Madagascar Action Plan, the government launched an initiative dubbed the Green Revolution aimed at, among other things, doubling rice production.
Agriculture Minister Panja Ramanoelina was quoted as saying in local newspapers Wednesday that the devastation wrought by two tropical cyclones earlier this year meant the country was still far off target.
The cyclones - a feature of the summer rainy season - destroyed around 50,000 hectares of rice paddies, meaning this year's rice harvest is expected to increase only slightly on last year's - to 4 million tonnes, from 3.7 million tonnes in 2007.
Madagascar, once an exporter of high-quality rice, relies on Asian countries to make up its shortfall of about 200,000 tonnes each year but rising prices for rice and other staple foods globally have led governments to try to cut back on imports.
To improve food security generally in Madagascar, the government is promoting the optimal use of arable land.
For example, in some areas in the south where only rice and manioc were grown previously, millet is now also being cultivated, said Ramanoelina.
