Chinese technology blossoms in Mozambique

A local farmer sends newly harvested rice to storehouses. Local farmers can get a rice yield of up to 400 kilograms per mu (1/15 hectares), up from 100 kilograms previously. Li Xiaopeng / Xinhua

Early in the morning, Rudy Manuel accompanies his father to the farm of their Chinese agricultural partner to sell their rice.

Late May is the end of the rice harvesting season in Mozambique. Rudy's family has 42 hectares of land in the Xai-Xai district of Gaza province in southern Mozambique, where they began working with a Chinese private enterprise, China Wanbao Co Ltd, in 2011.

They receive agricultural machinery and services provided by the company, and in return, they sell back the harvest at an agreed price.

At a grain silo with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons, a conveyor carries grain into the cleaning machine, which removes the debris. Another conveyor takes the grain into the barn.

Manuel said that before the cooperation with Wanbao, the family's harvests were less than 3 tons per ha, with poor sales. In 2011, the family's income was so low that they almost lost their house, vehicles and other property as they scrambled to cover bank loans.

After the deal with Wanbao, things changed, Manuel continued, saying that "large-scale agricultural machinery came to our land. This secured the plantation and harvest, and we also no longer need to worry about sales. Without their help, things would be much more difficult."

Years of thorough field inspections supplied Chinese specialists with first-hand data about local farming conditions, and Wanbao carried on that work via cooperation with a local agricultural technology demonstration center founded years ago by the governments of the two countries, together with the support of the China Development Bank and the China-Africa Development Fund.

Gaza province offered the company 20,000 ha of land and signed a development agreement with Wanbao for a large area of idle land.

In less than three years, investment reached nearly $200 million, mainly in the construction of facilities, the purchase of machinery, land preparation, irrigation and electricity. Luo Haoping, the technician in charge of Wanbao's farm, said that the company uses three forms of cooperation to help with local development.

First, the company set aside 70 ha of land for a training project, which so far has involved 68 local farmers. Wanbao then deployed technicians to deliver instructions on rice cultivation.

"If they reach our production standards, then they can apply for the demonstration phase," Luo said.

In the demonstration phase, each farmer will receive 3 to 4 ha of land. With a larger scale of planting, farmers can generate higher revenue.

Furthermore, Wanbao also provides seeds, fertilizer and agricultural machinery for farmers under contract, and it buys their grain harvests.

Now, local farmers can get a rice yield of up to 400 kg per mu (1/15 hectare), up from 100 kg previously.

The cooperative farm's output has also grown significantly. For example, Manuel's family farm has a harvest of 4.8 tons of rice per ha (an average yield of 320 kg per mu).

"Farming is not easy," Alexandrina Nhiacongue, one of the farmers participating in the training, told Xinhua, adding that, "the cooperation between the government and the Chinese enterprise works well since we could learn the advanced Chinese technology in agriculture from the technicians."

The Mozambican technician at the training spot, Nelson Mangate, who graduated from the best university in Mozambique last year, told Xinhua that Wanbao not only provided him with a good job opportunity while most Mozambican youths are facing high unemployment rate, but also a chance for him to learn the Chinese professional agricultural technologies and experience.

"The stimulation effect of China's technology in rice yields is obviously great," he added.