Rice Cultivation in Mauritius

Between the evocation in 1980 of setting up testing centers for the cultivation of rice-d'Australia Mare, Mare-Choisy, FUEL, Medina, Solitude and starting a project to produce rice on a large scale in 2012, he spent 32 years. No matter, since Monday, May 21, 2012, Mauritius has officially put his name on the list of countries producing rice that can be marketed both locally and internationally.

Indeed, the first harvest in a rice project in Cluny by the company Vita Rice was conducted Monday, May 21, 2012.It fell to Faugoo Satish, Minister of Agro Industry and Food Security, and Arvin Boolell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Minister of Agriculture, to start two of the five machines that participate in this harvest.

Graeme Robertson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vita Rice is satisfied. "We achieved our first crop of rice consumption in Cluny. It is limited in volume. We intend to double during the second or even triple during the third harvest " , he says.

The rice farmer prospects already export markets. "We have tested the waters of the U.S. and European markets. The results are positive, " says Graeme Robertson.

For the expansion of its business, the president of Vita Rice Research synergy with smallholders. "We need land. We are in discussions with smallholder sugar cane as well as with representatives of the sugar estates. If small farmers whose lands are appropriate want to be part of the rice sector, they are welcome. We stand ready to lease their land to lease, " he says.

Thupsee Hassan, former secretary of the federation of small tea growers and currently heads a cooperative of small farmers of the Grande Chartreuse, is prepared to embark on this new adventure. It awaits the conclusion of discussions with management of Vita Rice. "Nearly thirty members support the idea of embarking on rice. "

Jayram Ramjee, Chairman of Anouska Multipurpose Cooperative Society argues that if the discussions are successful, nearly 250 acres will be devoted to rice cultivation.

As for Vita Rice, she will be ready to launch in June, a real chain of rice production Made in Mauritius with the entry into force of a unit of industrial drying and husking of paddy, polishing and whitening rice . The construction was entrusted to Dulichand Oils Pvt Ltd, an Indian company directed by Kundan Kumar Ghosh