by Ju Ran

 

“We are about to promote corn, cotton, wheat, and vegetable seeds in Pakistan to assist Pakistan in variety optimization and yield improvement of these crops，” said Zhang Qin, vice president of China Seed Association, who is also the CEO of Win-all Hi-Tech Seed Co., Ltd, a leading seed enterprise in China. 

 

“Our company has entered the Pakistani market for 15 years and has introduced more than 20 varieties of high-yield rice seeds to Pakistan." Zhang Qin said. Chinese rice seeds have been widely planted in Pakistan and have contributed a lot to rice production. Zhang Qin believes that the successful experience of rice can be used for reference in more crops in the future.

 

“Take cotton as an example. Although it is one of the largest crops in Pakistan, its unit yield is far behind that in Xinjiang, China, and Pakistan is importing a large portion of its cotton. ” Zhang Qin noted. She told us that her company has bought the largest cotton seed company in Xinjiang. “Since Xinjiang and Pakistan are adjacent to each other and have similar natural conditions,  it is easier for our Xinjiang company to breed high-yield and high-quality cotton seeds suitable for planting in Pakistan.”

 

High amylose corn is a dual functional crop that can be used as functional food and material, such as the raw material for the degradable film. Win-all Hi-Tech has done a lot of work on that. “We have successfully bred high amylose corn. Its price is much higher than that of ordinary corn. We plan to introduce such corn varieties to Pakistan to increase the income of corn farmers there.”

 

“When we visited Pakistan Farmers Association in 2019, they expressed their expectation to export more agricultural products from Pakistan to China.” Zhang Qin recalls. “China has the largest population in the world, which create a big demand for the mentioned agricultural products. Through exporting seeds and importing grains, we can not only provide Pakistan farmers with more yield and more sales channels, but also address China's shortage of those crops.” Zhang Qin suggested. “We have submitted our plan of coordinating Pakistani agricultural products imports to the related department and hope we can contribute to Pak-China trade in the future.” She added.