Botswana to start commercial production trials of Chinese rice

GABORONE, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) and a Chinese agricultural company will commence commercial trials for water-saving and drought-tolerant rice during the 2024/2025 summer season in Botswana, an official announced Monday.

"We are openly recruiting farmers for this project, aiming at ensuring and safeguarding food security and enhancing farmers' benefits of the country," Botswanan Minister of Agriculture Fidelis Molao told reporters in Francistown, Botswana's second-largest city.

BUAN and African Agriculture (AA), a Chinese company that seeks to empower and uplift Botswana's farming community by providing top-quality agricultural products, will work with some Chinese rice research institutions toward commercial production, said Molao.

According to Molao, the AA team with assistance from BUAN will provide technical support to willing and eligible farmers across the country.

Furthermore, AA will assist and guide farmers in applying for financial support from the government and banks that provide sustainable, innovative development financial products, and services across the agricultural value chain through partnerships.

BUAN and AA have been conducting some rice plot experiments in Botswana since the 2020/2021 summer season. In 2022, Botswana successfully tested its first rice types suitable for growing on dry land.