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China to grow rice in Tanzania as global food shortage worsens

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Bloomberg Beijing

Chongqing Seed Corporation, a seed researcher and producer based in south-western Chongqing city, will plant its proprietary rice in a pilot project in the central African country, a report on China's ministry of commerce's website said.

China will set up ten agricultural technology centers in Africa by 2009 under an agreement reached at a November 2006 summit. The Asian country, seeking to tap into Africa's resources, is encouraging its agricultural businesses to expand overseas as its own arable land and water become scarcer.

 

Chongqing Seed, which also supplies seeds to the Chinese government, will initially plant the crops on a few hectares of land in Tanzania next year. to promote its products, the statement said.

The company has signed a contract for 4,500 mu (300 hectares) of land in the African country, it said.

As the rice production expands, Chongqing Seed will process the crops and may sell some of the rice back to China, it said.

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First Published: May 09 2008 | 12:00 AM IST

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