Ibadan, Nigeria
June 5, 2008
A new rice-growing system
developed for the wetlands of West Africa could significantly
increase the region’s yield capacity, bridging the gap between
production and consumption and offering a long-term solution to
the food crisis in Africa.
West Africa has moved closer to attaining domestic
self-sufficiency in rice, its fastest-growing and most costly
food import. IITA, the
International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture, has developed a rice growing system,
termed ‘Sawah’ (Indonesian for “wet rice-field”), which makes it
possible to grow the crop in the region’s wetlands and with more
than twice the yield of traditional dryland rice farms. IITA
estimates that some 10 million rice farmers stand to benefit
from the adoption of the system. As Africa imports about 40% of
its rice and accounts for more than one-third of the rice traded
globally, the ‘Sawah’ system could save rice-consuming countries
in the region some US$2 billion in annual import payments. But
more importantly, it could help ease the food crisis in Africa
where riots have erupted in recent months in several countries
due to acute food shortage.
The ‘Sawah’ rice-growing system, developed through IITA’s
five-year “Hirose Project” and validated in the rain-fed wetland
areas of central Nigeria, produces average yields of 3.5 tons
per hectare compared to 1.5 tons per hectare in traditional
lowland rice farms. Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, agronomist at
IITA’s Headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria, says that “the
widespread adoption of the technology could bring West Africa’s
rice production capacity to levels closer to the world’s major
producers.”
Although rice production in West Africa steadily grew over the
past 20 years, reaching 5.75 million tons in 2006, it only
supplies 58% of domestic demand. The Africa Rice Center (WARDA),
in its “Africa Rice Trends” report early this year, notes that
from 2001 to 2005 rice production increased 5.1 percent yearly,
while consumption increased 6.5 percent annually during the same
period.
Expansion into wetland areas offers the greatest potential for
increasing rice production in Africa. Dry-land rice, which
occupies about half the area planted to the grain, is low
yielding and depresses annual production. Yields could be
increased by improving water control, but significant problems
hinder irrigation.
“By expanding rice production to the wetlands, where the crop is
not traditionally planted, and intensifying yield per unit area,
the basic principles of the ‘Sawah’ system, Nigeria alone could
be producing up to 10 million tons of rice annually by the year
2020,” Fashola explains. Although developed and tested in
Nigeria, the system could be applied in similar wetland
ecosystems in West Africa or even the entire African continent.
“Sawah could provide a long-term solution to the food crisis in
Africa,” Fashola adds, “The Hirose Project proves that Nigeria
and other West African countries hold great potential to produce
large quantities of high-quality rice comparable to those coming
from Asia. Global market competitiveness and self-sufficiency
remain challenging goals, but we believe these will be achieved
over time.”
The Hirose Project was led by Prof T. Wakatsuki of Kinki
University, Japan, and funded by the Development Corporation of
Japan (JSPS). It forms part of IITA’s research into watershed
ecological engineering covering a wide range of factors
essential to improve Nigeria’s rice output such as genetic plant
stock, soil fertility, land preparation, harvesting and
marketing.
IITA’s rice research has now been transferred for further
development and up-scaling to the National Cereal Research
Institute, a Nigerian government partner.
IITA also partners with other CGIAR-supported centers for its
Africa-based rice research such as WARDA and the International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI). |
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