An Ivorian farmer is driving a combine harvester to harvest paddy rice in the Guiguidou area of Divo city, southern Cote d'Ivoire. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By WANG Xiaoxia

It's early morning in the Guiguidou area of Divo city, southern Cote d'Ivoire, and a local farmer is skillfully driving a Chinese-made combine harvester through golden rice fields.

"In the past, our local rice variety could only produce about three tons per hectare. China's rice varieties and planting techniques have doubled the yield, and the rice is sweet and tasty. Everyone loves it," said a farmer named Benjamin.

The Guiguidou area is a demonstration base for China-Cote d'Ivoire agricultural cooperation. In 1997, the area received the first group of Chinese experts. After the unremitting efforts of 11 groups of experts in nearly 30 years, the Guiguidou area has become a renowned paddy rice cultivation base in the country.

Benjamin, who grew up in the Guiguidou area, has been learning rice farming techniques from Chinese experts of the cooperation project, and seen the local development first hand over a 20 year period. Now, not only can he communicate with experts fluently in Chinese, but he has also become a technical instructor for local farmers, teaching them about rice transplanting, irrigation, fertilization and agricultural machinery.

At present, the cooperation project has certified four rice varieties in Cote d'Ivoire, which have greatly improved the yield, quality and taste of local traditional varieties. Among them, the variety C26 can yield about seven tons per hectare and has been widely promoted throughout the whole country, said Zhang Jing, an expert of the Chinese agricultural team to Cote d'Ivoire.