KZN, China launch rice project
Chris Khumalo
1 February 2005
A visit by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele to China last year has paid dividends, with farming projects launched in the province that could benefit up to 200 000 people.
The provincial department of agriculture and forestry, in conjunction with a Chinese university, launched the R10-million investment at the weekend.
It comes just over six months after Ndebele and a delegation from the department visited China to investigate Chinese technology in growing rice on dry land.
The joint project was set up in conjunction with a team from the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University. A three-year contract will see the university training people in some of KwaZulu-Natal's rural and semi-urban areas to plant rice and mushrooms.
A Chinese team arrived in the province at the weekend to mark the start of the three-year project, that is expected to benefit 4 000 rural households.
Agriculture and Forestry Department head Jabulani
Mjwara said: "Right now we will do trials for both projects [rice and mushrooms] at four sites across the province.
"These are Cedara in Pietermaritzburg, Makhathini in northern KZN, Ugu district on the South Coast, and Elandskop outside Pietermaritzburg."
According to Ndebele, the performance of the province's agricultural sector over the past several years has been disappointing, especially in its ability to draw subsistence and emerging farmers into the commercial farming sector.
"It has been clear for some time now that it will take an agrarian revolution to free KwaZulu-Natal from hunger and poverty", Ndebele said.
Source: BuaNews
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