Henri de Laulani

Henri de Laulanié de Sainte-Croix was a French Jesuit missionary and agronomist who spent most of his working life among rice farmers in Madagascar. Trained at the Institut National Agronomique in Paris, from which he graduated in 1938, he arrived on the island in 1961 at the age of 41 and set about helping Malagasy farmers raise more rice, the staple food of the country. Out of that work came the System of Rice Intensification, first developed in 1983 and publicized in his book Rice in Madagascar. The method rests on four principles: establishing plants early and quickly, keeping plant density low, enriching soils with organic matter, and reducing and controlling the water applied. It was later adopted in more than 55 countries. In 1981 he also founded an agricultural school at Antsirabe, the General Training Course for Rural Adults, to educate rural youth and adults. He died in Madagascar in 1995 and is buried at Ambohipo.