Luanda - The Angolan agricultural sector expects to harvest 30 million tons of reindeer potatoes per hectare in the coming years, so as to enable it to be cultivated on a large scale in the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has said in a statement.
To this end, the Angolan government has said it will implement a large-scale production project for this product, whose current production amounts to 11million tons/hectare.
The implementation of this project will be done through improved virus-free seed varieties, using biotechnology and scientific support from the Chinese researcher in Agricultural Sciences, Liao Huajun, who was received, this week, in Luanda, by the Angolan Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, António Francisco de Assis.
Quoted in a note, the government official assured that there is already land prepared for the execution of the respective plan, having announced the import of 20 containers of potato seeds to Angola.
The minister announced the arrival of a Chinese experts’ team to work with professionals of the Angola Agricultural Research Institute, as well as the creation of a nucleus of root and tuber researchers made up of young Angolans.
According to António Francisco Assis, the young people will be guided by the international researcher and dean of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, an institution dedicated to scientific research in the agricultural field, Liao Huajun.
In addition to this agricultural sector project, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences also has a partnership signed with the Social Security Institute of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and with the company Marsiris, for the production of reindeer potatoes in Malanje and Bié provinces.
The Chinese international researcher and rector of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, an institution dedicated to scientific research in the agricultural field, is in Angola at the invitation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to exchange experiences with the Angolan authorities.
Liao Huajun's arrival in Angola is the result of the Forum on Business and Investment opportunities in the Agriculture sector in the country, organized during the recent visit made by an Angolan delegation to China.
CPM/QCB/CF/AMP
