Project Name：Rice Seed Production Capacity Enhancement Project in Haiti

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Caribbean, Haiti

Project Description：Rice is the staple food in Haiti, with about 60,000 hectares of commercial rice being cultivated annually. However, the production of certified seed is as low as 600 tons per year, a supply rate which only meets 14 percent of the national demand. Since Haitian farmers often suffer from low rice yield due to the shortage of high-quality seed, the Haitian government intends to establish a cooperation project with Taiwan in order to strengthen rice seed production capacity within Haiti.
    The appraisal mission conducted by the Taiwanese delegation found that the main reasons for the shortage in rice seed are as follows: (1) there is no rice seed inspection system in place, and no seed examination laboratory or related regulations; (2) there are insufficient resources within the public sector to integrate rice seed production and marketing operations; (3) post-harvest procedures relating to rice seed are currently inadequate for the production of certified seed; and (4) there is a lack of rice seed production and post-harvest processing facilities such as storage warehouses and processing centers.
    To assist Haiti in enhancing production capacity for high-quality rice seed, this project will: (1) establish an inspection system for certified seed; (2) upgrade the functionality and scope of public sector agencies; and (3) improve rice seed production and post-harvest processing systems.
    Project implementation will include: (1) the establishment of a national rice experimentation and research center; (2) enhancements to the production system and supply chain for high-quality rice seed; (3) repairs and upgrades to a post-harvest processing center, to ensure the quality of rice seed; (4) improvements to an agricultural machinery operations center to support rice production; and (5) training for Haitian technical staff to ensure expertise and, subsequently, project sustainability.

To watch the video made by the TaiwanICDF:
Rice Seed Production Capacity Enhancement Project in Haiti


Le project de renforcement des capacite de production de semences de riz en Haiti

Implementation Start Date：2014-04-22

Implementation End Date：2018-12-31

Project Objectives：1.An enhancement in the capacity of the breeding systems for high-quality rice seed in Haiti, with the specific goal of producing 2,000 tons of commercial seed per year.
2.Strengthen inspection systems for certified rice seed:
(1) Specifications for rice seed inspection.
(2) A rice seed examination laboratory.
(3) Training for four Haitian laboratory technical staff in Taiwan.
(4) Ten well-trained rice field inspectors.
3.Upgrade the functionality and operational scope of state agencies:
(1) A national rice experiment and research center.
(2) A cold chamber to storage rice germplasm and foundation seed.
(3) A rice germplasm resource storage center.
(4) Seven well-trained Haitian research technicians.
(5) 50 Haitian agro-technical extension staff.
(6) A rice seed post-harvest processing center.
(7) An enhanced agricultural machinery center.
4.Improve rice seed breeding and post-harvest processing systems:
(1) A pre-registration-based quality rice seed production system.
(2) Nine tons of rice foundation seed (Mauger farm).
(3) 50 tons and 400 kg of registered rice seed (Mauger farm).
(4) 118 tons and 750 kg of registered rice seed produced by Deseaux’s farmers.
(5) 4,900 tons of commercial rice seed produced by Deseaux’s farmers.
(6) 70 well-trained farmers able to produce registered rice seed.
(7) Eight Haitian technical staff able to guide farmers in producing registered rice seed.
(8) 800 well-trained farmers able to produce commercial rice seed.
(9) 50 technical staff skilled in agro-machinery maintenance.
(10) 225 well-trained agro-machinery operators.

Executing Agency：1. Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Haiti
2. Ministère de l’Agriculture des Ressources Naturelles et du Développement Rural (MARNDR)
3. Organisme de Développement de la Vallée de l’Artibonite (ODVA)
4. Direction Département de l'Artibonite (DDA)

Project Performance：An increase in Haiti’s use of high-quality rice seed from 14 percent to 63 percent.

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Haiti