Mr. Darboe made the remark on Friday during a visit by the Hunan Daily, a mainstream media team from China at a demonstration of the variety of the Sahel 177 rice transplanting activity which is expected for harvest at the end of October 2024.
According to him, this intervention has led to a developed and improved rice production at his farms, jumping from 3 hectares to about 120 hectares since 2018.
He said there has been increased in yields with an average yield of about 7.4 tons per hectare compared with just three tons for a regular farmer.
He said that the Maruo Farm is expecting to harvest about 10 tons per hectare in October this year.
The Hunan Daily media team arrived in The Gambia to explore the nation’s agricultural aid project site, mainly to get first-hand information on how Chinese agricultural experts and local farmers work together to improve food production.
Speaking to journalists, Darboe said that China-Aid intervention came at a crucial point when he was in need of support to realise his dreams to become a mechanised farmer.
Mr. Darboe, an engineer, revealed that he came across the team from China-Aid, which he said was more like an intervention for him, a relationship was developed, subsequently, China-Aid team introduced him to the mechanised equipment and offered training for members of his staff.
He recalled taking the decision to venture into the sector while he in the USA when a family member called him that they needed a bag of rice. According to him he then realized that the people have stopped going to the farms.”
“In the same week, I was listening to a radio which says that 65% of the available arable land is in Africa yet Africa imports about 90% of foods; and the irony was that we are importing about $US 7.4 billion for rice, that is only for West Africa,” he explained.
“So, I thought that going into rice production would be a good opportunity. So I started looking into how rice was produced in the USA. They were using airplane to do the rice production, but The Gambia, as a country that does not even have an airplane, so I thought that was a no-go area.”
He narrated that in 2018, he took leap of faith and returned to The Gambia, adding that he was at a point of frustration, because there was nobody to show him how to do it. “So, from agronomy to mechanisation, the pest control and even the modern combined rice millers that I have right now was introduced by the technical team from China,” he revealed.
“So, I would say that if they were not here, I would not be here at this time because I would not have anybody to show me how to do it. They have been very great and they continued to help me and many other Gambians and they did not ask me for any payment,” Darboe said.
He commended the Chinese team under the leadership of Mr. Jacky Huang, who helped them developed the land.
Mr. Darboe described Maruo’s biggest challenge as animal intrusion, while urging the Ministries of Agriculture, Local Government and Lands and Interior’s interventions. However, he observed the conflicts between the herders and farmers are getting worse.
