Fig. 6

History of human migrations to Madagascar, the associated introductions of different rice genetic groups, and the current eco-geographical distribution of rice groups in the country. The map of human migrations (black arrows) was borrowed from Beaujard (2011). The red and blue circles indicate the most probable area of origin of the Malagasy indica and japonica rice groups, respectively. The blue dotted lines indicate the arrival in Madagascar of the japonica rice varieties, associated with the South-westward migration of population of Malay origin (1200–1400 AD). The red dotted lines indicate the arrival of the indica rice varieties associated with the waves of Austronesians reaching Madagascar up to the fifteenth century AD. The red bold line represents the latest wave of Austronesians migrants who established the Merina kingdom in the central highlands of the country and developed rice cultivation in those areas. The red, blue and green colours covering the Malagasy island indicate du current eco-geographical distribution of rice groups in the country