Dule Zhao, AfricaRice Program Leader, Genetic Diversity and Improvement

Dule Zhao, AfricaRice Program Leader, Genetic Diversity and Improvement speaking at the Field Day to showcase the performance of hybrid rice varieties developed by AfricaRice, 26-27 June 2019, AfricaRice, M’bé, Côte d’Ivoire

AfricaRice hybrid rice varieties spark seed companies’ interest in Africa

A set of four high-yielding hybrid rice varieties with excellent grain quality, developed by AfricaRice, elicited strong interest from key stakeholders, especially seed companies and farmers, during field days at AfricaRice research station in M’bé, Côte d’Ivoire, 26-27 June 2019.

The field days to showcase the performance of AfricaRice-developed hybrids were organized by the Rice Value Chain Compact of the ‘Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)’ program, which is funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) as part of its ‘Feed Africa’ strategy.

The hybrids showcased in the field days included AR051H, an aromatic variety with high-yield potential (12-13 t/ha under favorable conditions and about 9 t/ha in farmers’ fields) and milling recovery of 80%. Developed by AfricaRice, AR051H, was released by the Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA) as ISRIZ-9 in 2017.