by Wang Xiaotong

CHENGDU, Sept 2 (China Economic Net) – The International Training Workshop on Kiwifruit Production concluded in Chengdu on August 31, with 14 agricultural experts from Pakistan, Egypt, Nepal and Palestine participating.

The 15-day program was held in Chengdu and Deyang in Sichuan Province and Guilin in Guangxi. Jointly organized by Sichuan Provincial Academy of Natural Resource Sciences and Guangxi Institute of Botany, it covered kiwifruit breeding, cultivation, orchard management, post-harvest handling and marketing. The program combined lectures, field visits, practical training and academic exchanges, with experts from China and abroad, including the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research and the Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Experts from Pakistan, Egypt, Nepal and Palestine attend the China-hosted International Training Workshop on Kiwifruit Production. [Photo/SPANRS]

Pakistani participant Dr. Mushtaq Hussain Soomro, a consultant at the Women in Agriculture Development Organization of Pakistan said kiwifruit production has been tested in Pakistan's Hazara Division and other upland areas, including Mansehra, Abbottabad, Battagram, Swat and Murree. Trials conducted by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and the National Tea and High Value Crops Research Institute (NTHRI) since 2014 recorded about 90% plant survival.

However, further expansion of kiwifruit production in Pakistan is constrained by phytosanitary requirements for importing live germplasm. Under Pakistan's plant quarantine regulations, such imports require an import permit, pest risk analysis, a phytosanitary certificate and post-entry quarantine, according to Dr. Soomro.

"Within these constraints, Chinese-led support to Pakistan is practically feasible in non-germplasm areas, including trellis, pruning and pollination know-how; in-country tissue-culture support for Hayward rootstocks; laboratory capacity for Psa pathogen detection and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) compliance; cold-chain and packhouse infrastructure; Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to meet export Sanitary and SPS requirements; and training via the CPEC Joint Working Group on Agriculture," Dr. Mushtaq Hussain Soomro told CEN.

It's learned that the workshop marked its third edition, with Pakistani experts also participating in the 2025 program.