Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of southern Africa. The climate is tropical along the coast, temperate inland including central highlands, and arid in the south. The total population in Madagascar was estimated at 25.6 million people in 2017. Agriculture employs 74% of Madagascar's population in 2017, and accounts for almost 25% of GDP. Rice is the dominant food crop, whereas cassava, maize, and sweet potatoes are other staple crops grown^{2, 3)}. Rice is mainly grown in lowland conditions (including both irrigated and rainfed lowlands)⁴⁾, whereas upland rice accounts for 7% of total rice area.  Rice production constraints are a lack of access to agricultural equipment, good-quality seed, and mineral fertilizers, and a range of biotic and abiotic stresses, including poor soil fertility, drought, and weed infestation. In the highlands, cold stress and blast disease also reduce rice yields.

Reference

1. https://tradingeconomics.com/madagascar/arable-land-hectares-wb-data.html
2. http://ricepedia.org/madagascar
3. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/
4. Diagne, A., Amovin-Assagba,E., Futakuchi,K., Wopereis,M.C.S., 2013. Estimation of cultivated area, number of farming households and yield for major rice growing environments in Africa. In: Wopereis,M.C.S., Johnson,D.E., Ahmadi,N., Tollens,E., Jalloh,A. (Eds.), RealizingAfrica's Rice Promise. CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp.35–45.