by Xiong Weisheng

 

 

BEIJING, Mar. 19 (China Economic Net) – China-Pakistan Seed Industry Cooperation and Exchange Forum - the second seminar of China-Pakistan Agricultural and Industrial Cooperation Information Platform – was held online on Thursday. 

 

Focusing on B2B cooperation in the seed industry between China and Pakistan, the forum highlights current cooperation achievements and potential avenues for cooperation in crops including wheat, maize-soybean, cotton, rice, and sugar cane. 

 

The forum started with three keynote speeches focused on the problems and challenges in Pakistani seed industry.

 

Syed Fakhar Imam, Pakistani Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, said that the Pakistani seed industry is still underdeveloped and should boost investments to conduct seed R & D and establish a certification system of new seed varieties. 

 

This view was reiterated by Syed Hussain Jahania Gardez, Provincial Minister of Punjab for Agriculture, who urged Pakistan to work with China under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor cotton production, R & D of hybrid seeds including hybrid rice and hybrid wheat, and vegetables.

 

In response to the issues in Pakistani seed industry, Peng Zhengwu, Acting Consul General of China’s Consulate General in Lahore, said Chinese enterprises can help Pakistan with their high-quality seed varieties and technologies to strengthen cooperation in bilateral seed industries and help promote the healthy, stable development of the seed industry in Pakistan.

 

Three roundtable discussions elaborated on advanced seed technologies in such areas as wheat, maize-soybean and cotton and further explored how future cooperation programmes can be made. 

 

The first roundtable discussion revolves around bilateral wheat cooperation. Dr Zhang Shengquan of Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, introduced the R&D of two-line hybrid wheat in collaboration with Pakistani research institutes and universities and its successful trials in Pakistan to show the potential of the hybrid wheat in safeguarding food security and unleashing seed developments. Dr Li Hui, researcher on breeding at Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, elaborated on the breeding of high-quality wheat seed varieties including the drought-resistant and water-saving wheat seed varieties, and fertilizer-saving green varieties. Likewise, Mr Shahzad Ali Malik, CEO of Guard Agri, shared how the company managed to first introduce Chinese hybrid wheat to Pakistan and achieve key growth against all odds. 

 

The second panel discussion focuses on the maize-soybean strip intercropping technology. Professor Yang Wenyun of Sichuan Agricultural University and Muhammad Ali Raza, post-doc research fellow at Sichuan Agricultural University reported several successful trials of maize-soybean intercropping technology in Pakistan signal that the technology can produce decreased costs and increased land use efficiency, crop productivity and soil fertility. Dr Irfan Afzal, associate professor at University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, stated that the technology can effectively combat the issue of low soybean production in Pakistan and meet domestic demands and foray into foreign countries.

 

The final panel discussion features cooperation in cotton technology. Three cotton growing techniques—monoculture of full-season cotton, alternative intercropping of cotton and peanut, and double cropping with short-season cotton— were introduced by Dong Hezhong, Director of Cotton Research Centre at Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, that have helped boost cotton productivity in China’s Xinjiang. In terms of cotton-picking technology, Yang Wansen, General Manager of Xinjiang Tianjie Water-saving Irrigation System Co., Ltd, shared how XJPCC developed appropriate cotton plant and row spacing for cotton-picking machine, and the requirements for machine-picking technology including cotton varieties, agronomic cultivation and fields production management. Focusing on the pest- and disease-combating technology, Mr Jawed Salim Qureshi, CEO of Four Brothers in Pakistan, expounded its collaborations with national and international research institutes to foster disease-resistant cotton varieties such as Talagang Triple Gene Cotton. Mr Moazzam Ahmed Sheikh, CEO of Sanifa Group, also proposed to boost the cotton industry by establishing a complete cotton seed supply chain including setting up a certification system.

 

In addition to wheat, maize-soybean, and cotton, the forum also touched on hybrid rice and sugar cane. Kassim Motiwalla, General Manager of Seeds and Pesticides Business of Corporation, illustrated the wide application and success of hybrid rice and the growing market in Punjab and Sindh. He alerted the industry to challenges including market knowledge and gene fingerprint gap. Elaborating on the hybrid rice breeding programs and their achievements in Pakistan, Jiang Sanqiao, Deputy General Manager of Anhui Winall Hi-tech Seed Co., Ltd, introduced the development of Early Maturing Hybrid Rice to protect potatoes against soil-borne diseases and nematode. He also pointed out such challenges in the industry as a lack of mechanization and palatability. Zhang Shuzhen, researcher of Sugarcane Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, revealed new varieties of sugarcane in China and sugarcane planting technologies. 

 

To facilitate the cooperation in the seed industry between the two countries, Mr. Afaq Ahmad, Director General of the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department of Pakistan, spelled out the registration processes of a new seed variety and Dr Erfa Iqbal, CEO of Punjab Board of Investment and Trade, introduced some favourable policies.