African rice: History, Fact and Future
Africa is
the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent,
after Asia . At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi)
including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's
total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With 1.0 billion people
(2009), it accounts for about 14.72% of the world's human population.
The continent
is surrounded by the Mediterranean
Sea to
the north, both the Suez
Canal and
the Red
Sea along
the Sinai
Peninsula to
the northeast, the Indian
Ocean to
the Southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to
the west. The continent includes Madagascar
History of African rice cultivation in Africa
The only Oryza glaberrima rice varieties cultivated in Africa
period
An African rice farmer
There are only
two species of cultivated rice in the world: Oryza
glaberrima, or African rice, and Oryza
sativa, or Asian rice. African rice is
believed to have been domesticated 2,000-3,000 years ago in the inland delta of the Upper Niger river, in what is now Mali Africa , is Oryza barthii(formerly
known as Oryza brevilugata).
The Oryza
glaberrima species is grown in West Africa ,
and shows several negative characteristics with respect to the Asian rice
species O. sativa,
such as shattering, brittle grain and poor milling quality. More importantly,
it consistently shows lower yields than O. sativa, but African rice
often shows more tolerance to fluctuations in water depth, iron toxicity,
infertile soils, severe climatic conditions and human neglect, and exhibits
better resistance to various pests and diseases, such as nematodes, rice yellow
mottle virus and the parasitic plants Striga.
The yield of Oryza
glaberrima rice varieties are very low, only
about 1.000 kg/ha.
In a long ancient period, the Oryza glaberrima species had been feeding all African population
since 3.500 BC to 1600 before the Portuguese
as early as the middle of the 16th century introduced the Oryza
sativa species to Africa .
The both Oryza glaberrima and Oryza
sativa rice varieties cultivated in Africa
period (1600-2000)
Although it is not known with certainty when and where
the first varieties of Asian rice O.
sativa were first introduced
into West Africa, the general consensus is that, beginning in the 16th century,
the species spread and was adopted by peoples living in the Upper Guinea Coast
who had previous experience growing the local African species.
There are many idies suggested that the Portuguese as early as the middle of the 16th century
introduced the Oryza sativa species to Africa .
Be cause of its yield is very low, only about 1.000 kg/ha, the Oryza
glaberrima rice varieties have
been gradually replaced by the Oryza
sativa rice varieties.
At the present time, O. glaberrima is
being replaced everywhere in West Africa by
the Asian species, introduced into the continent by the Portuguese in the
middle of the 16th century.
In the 1960s,
many African farmers were producing enough rice to feed themselves. Since then,
yearly imports have increased 8-fold to 4 million metric tons .
Tragically,
food production in sub-Saharan Africa is
diminishing by 1% a year. Per capita food production in 1966–1968 averaged 119
kg per person per year. By 1982–1984, it had fallen to 98 kg per person per
year and by 1993 to 91 kg per person per year In 1999 it climbed slightly to 94
kg per person per year.
Some West
African farmers, including the Jola of southern Senegal
From 1600 to
1970, both of O. glaberrima and O.sativa varieties had been grown in Afica. In wich the O.sativa varieties were grown
in the good kinds of rice soil and O. glaberrima in the worse kinds of rice soil.
The folling table shows the rice area, yield and
total rice production (rice paddy) on the year 1970 when the improment rice
varieties not yet grown in Africa :
World (Total)
|
Area
(ha)
|
Yield
(kg/ha)
|
Rice paddy
(Ton)
|
World (Total)
|
132,873,233
|
2,380.8
|
316,345,692
|
120,918,684
|
2,399.1
|
290,101,286
|
|
3,790,938
|
1,922.1
|
7,286,522
|
|
-Eastern
|
1,283,610
|
1,762.1
|
2,261,862
|
-Middle
|
342,038
|
802.6
|
274,526
|
-Northern
|
494,493
|
5,363.6
|
2,652,264
|
-Southern
|
3,706
|
2,522.4
|
9,348
|
-Western
|
1,667,091
|
1,252.8
|
2,088,522
|
Source: FAOSTAT | © FAO Statistics Division 2012 | 12 April
2012
The after improvement rice varieties
introduced to Africa period (1970-2000)
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is
well known for its contribution to the "Green Revolution" movement in Asia during
the late 1960s and 1970s,
which involved the breeding of "semidwarf" varieties of rice that
were less likely to lodge (fall over). The varieties developed at IRRI, known
as IR varieties, are well accepted in many Asian countries. In 2005, it was
estimated that 60% of the world's rice area was planted to IRRI-bred rice
varieties or their progenies.
The first
Asian improvement rice variety IR8 was introduced in 1966 open the new period
of Asia and world rice cultivation. After that
time the improvement rice IR8 and many other rice varieties of IRRI were
introduced to Africa .
Some of IRRI
rice varieties have been growing in Africa
giving higher yield and shoter time than African tradictional rice varieties.
After that many improvement rice varieties were made just in Africa .
About the
years 2000s , African farmers grew three kinds of rice species: O. glaberrima,
O. sativa and improment rice varieties including one of two.
In this period
the yield of Africa rice increases more than
the last period.
The folling table shows the rice area, yield and
total rice production (rice paddy) on the year 2000 when the improment rice
varieties not yet grown in Africa :
World (Total)
|
Area
(ha)
|
Yield
(kg/ha)
|
Rice paddy
(Ton)
|
World (Total)
|
154,059,904
|
3,890.4
|
599,355,455
|
138,145,013
|
3,949.1
|
545,546,464
|
|
7,561,781
|
2,311.2
|
17,476,517
|
|
-Eastern
|
1,997,820
|
1,896.2
|
3,788,254
|
-Middle
|
579,491
|
902.3
|
522,872
|
-Northern
|
670,474
|
8,999.6
|
6,034,008
|
-Southern
|
1,068
|
2,968.2
|
3,170
|
-Western
|
4,312,928
|
1,652.8
|
7,128,213
|
Source: FAOSTAT | © FAO Statistics Division 2012 | 12 April
2012
The current period: To increase rapidly Africa
rice yield (2000- 2012)
This period is
important for Africa rice increasing in both
yield and total rice production.
In 2010, the Global
Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) was launched, which IRRI leads
in Asia, the Africa
Rice Center (AfricaRice)
leads in Africa, and International
Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) leads in Latin America. It aims
to "dramatically improve the ability of rice farmers to feed growing
populations in some of the world’s poorest nations".
The folling table shows the rice area, yield and
total rice production (rice paddy) on the year 2010 when the improment rice
varieties not yet grown in Africa :
The future of
New Rice for Africa ("NERICA")
World (Total)
|
Area
(ha)
|
Yield
(kg/ha)
|
Rice paddy
(Ton)
|
World (Total)
|
153,652,007
|
4,373.6
|
672,015,587
|
136,550,500
|
4,447.6
|
607,328,408
|
|
9,051,788
|
2,525.0
|
22,855,318
|
|
-Eastern
|
2,571,816
|
2,615.6
|
6,726,891
|
-Middle
|
715,537
|
953.8
|
682,478
|
-Northern
|
473,465
|
9,300.8
|
4,403,590
|
-Southern
|
1,135
|
2,647.6
|
3,005
|
-Western
|
5,289,835
|
2,086.9
|
11,039,354
|
Source: FAOSTAT | © FAO Statistics Division 2012 | 12 April
2012
The future of Africa rices
New Rice for Africa ("NERICA") is an interspecific cultivar
of rice developed
by the Africa
Rice Center (AfricaRice)
to improve the yield of African rice varieties.The
results of the NERICA Project, which is funded by the African Development Bank, the Japanese
government, and the United
Nations Development Programme, was a major agenda item at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD-IV) in
2008. The new rice varieties, which are suited to drylands, were distributed
and sown on more than 200,000 hectares during the last five years in several
African countries, notably Guinea , Nigeria , Côte d’Ivoire , and Uganda ,
according to the Africa
Rice Center
The first
Nerica variety was developed in 1994 by researchers at WARDA, using an Oryza sativa japonica variety (WAB 56-104)
and an African Oryza glaberrima
variety (CG 14).
They mature
30-50 days earlier than traditional varieties allowing farmers to grow extra
crops of vegetables or legumes. They are taller thus making harvesting easier
and they grow better on the fertile, acid soils that comprise 70% of the upland
rice area in the region. In addition, there is 2% more body building protein in
these new varieties than either their African or Asian parents.
Key features of the new varieties
include:
-An increase in grain head size from
75-100 grains per head to 400 grains per head.
-An increase in yield from 1 tonne per
hectare to 2.5 tonnes per hectare, yield increases to 5 tonnes per hectare with
fertilizer use.
-Contains 2% more protein than their
African or Asian parents.
-They are taller than most rices,
which makes harvesting easier.
-They resist pests, and they tolerate drought and
infertile soils better than Asian varieties.
The high
productivity conferred on the NERICA strains by their Asian parents means that
yields can be increased from the previous 1 ton per hectare to 1.5 tons without
major inputs. With fertilizers and good care yields can double or even triple.
Thus, the new rice holds great promise for a region in desperate need of
decreasing hunger and increasing food security.
Some NERICA lines show high
growth with low uptake of water and seem to be appropriate for long periods of
cultivation in drought condition.
If 25% of rice farmers in Guinea , Côte
d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone Asia .
AfricaRice
Unveils Plan to Revolutionize Rice Production in 
The pan-African agricultural research organization,
AfricaRice, has unveiled a strategic plan aimed to help
AfricaRice said that the product-oriented plan envisages
that at least 10 countries will reach over 100% self-sufficiency in rice in
around 10 years. The target is designed to reduce Africa ’s
dependency on rice imports and thus protect it from price and currency
fluctuations. The research organization also believes that the rice industry
can drive the economic growth in the continent. “Our new 10-year strategic plan
shows clearly that rice sector development can become an engine for economic
growth across the continent,” said AfricaRice Director General Dr. Papa
Abdoulaye Seck.
Rice production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is targeted to
increase from 18.4 million tons in 2010 to 46.8 million tons by 2020, as per
the strategy. The plan is projected to result in income rises that will lift a
minimum of 11 million people in the rice industry above the $1.25 poverty line
by 2020. Increased food security will also mean that about 5.6 million
undernourished people will reach caloric sufficiency.
“As an association of African member countries and an
international Center of the CGIAR Consortium, AfricaRice is ideally positioned
to coordinate the implementation of the new strategy in close
collaboration with its partners in order to boost Africa’s rice sector and to
achieve the ‘rice revolution’ the continent so badly needs,” said Dr. Seck. (Source: http://oryza.com.)
References
1-"NERICA COMPENDIUM".
WARDA. 2006. Retrieved 2008.
2-"Lowland NERICA". WARDA. 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
3- NERICA - new rice for West Africa-www.scienceinafrica.co.za/nerica.htm
4-GRAIN — Nerica: a 'wonder' rice?
www.grain.org/article/entries/752-nerica-a-wonder-rice.
5-Farmers embrace African 'miracle' rice-www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol17no4/174rice.htm.
7-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Rice_for_Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
8- http://oryza.com/Rice-News/14454.html
By Oryza News on March 02,2012
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