Haitian daily praises help from Taiwanese mission

The French-language Le Nouvelliste, Haiti's largest newspaper, gave heavy coverage of the Taiwanese mission's drive on its economic pages Aug. 14-15.

According to the report, the new rice strain Prosequisa-4, also known as P-4, is bringing new hope to the country's goal of increasing its annual rice crop.

The new variety has been planted in L'Artibonite valley plain, Haiti's most important rice production area, which used to contribute most of the country's annual output.

However, production declined substantially after the region was hit by an outbreak of crop disease in 1998, the report said.

The Taiwanese agricultural mission then collaborated with the Haitian government to introduce the Taiwan-developed Taichung Shan No. 10 variety on the plain, which thrived there.

The report quoted Hsiang Shui-sung, head of the Taiwanese agricultural mission there, as saying that the average rice productivity in L'Artibonite plain is no more than 2.5 tons per hectare.

With the introduction of P-4, however, production is expected to reach 4-6 tons per hectare, Hsiang said, adding that if the strain is planted in a “three harvests per year” model, production costs will be slashed while annual output will increase.

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