ZANZIBAR – A new water-saving and drought-resistant rice variety, WDR-73, developed by the Shanghai Agro-Biological Gene Centre, has shown remarkable resilience to erratic weather conditions exacerbated by climate change, making it a valuable asset for Zanzibar rice farmers.
Introduced to Zanzibar earlier this year, the variety is already bringing hope and economic stability to local smallholder farmers who have long struggled with traditional rice varieties.
The pilot program for WDR-73 has been conducted among 300 farmers in Kibonde-Mzungu, located in the Mjini Magharibi region on Unguja Island.
According to Salum Faki Hamad, a researcher with the Zanzibar Agricultural Research Institute, the results have been promising.
“The number of farmers using the new variety is anticipated to increase to 6,000 in the upcoming farming season after we have distributed the seeds to them,” Hamad told Xinhua.
This significant expansion underscores the variety’s success and the confidence it has inspired among the farming community.
One of WDR-73’s standout features is its short maturation period and its resilience to flooding, making it particularly suited for Zanzibar’s diverse topography.
Upon approval, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, Natural Resources, and Livestock plans to distribute this variety throughout the Zanzibar archipelago, including Pemba Island, where farmers often face challenges due to limited access to irrigation.
Additionally, the potential to improve local rice varieties through crossbreeding with WDR-73 is also being explored, which could further enhance Zanzibar’s agricultural output.
Ali Khamis Juma, the principal secretary in Zanzibar’s Ministry of Agriculture, emphasized the broader implications of this initiative.
“Following the introduction of this rice variety, Zanzibar and China could further collaborate on research into other food crops, helping make the Zanzibar archipelago food self-sufficient,” Juma stated.
The introduction of WDR-73 is part of a broader collaboration between China and Tanzania aimed at enhancing agricultural resilience.
Liu Zaochang, a researcher from the Shanghai Agro-Biological Gene Center, noted that the center has been working with Tanzania on this initiative since March.
“The agricultural cooperation between China and Tanzania, particularly in rice cultivation, holds great promise,” Liu said.
He highlighted the variety’s shorter growth period, which matures 10 to 20 days earlier than local varieties, and its high seed-setting rate, which exceeds 90 percent, as critical factors in its potential success.
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