Sino-Pak agricultural cooperation stressed

Even as the two brotherly countries enhance economic and cultural cooperation, cooperation between China and Pakistan in the agricultural sector has a huge potential for growth with agreements already setting up the right kind of framework for gainful collaboration.

This was stated by Mudassir Tipu, the director-general for China at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during an online dialogue on ‘China-Pakistan Agriculture Cooperation’. The dialogue had been organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Friday.

Agricultural cooperation between China and Pakistan can play a huge role in upgrading agriculture and sector-specific technology transfer to Pakistan.

Highlighting the various aspects of cooperation in the agriculture sector and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed in this context, Tipu said that the process of taking decisions and implementing this vision has been institutionalized through a consultative process covering various dimensions of the cooperation.

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Technology such as hybrid seeds and training to farmers, he said, can tremendously enhance the yield of staple and cash crops such as wheat and others. He appreciated the valuable support offered by China in combating the locust swarms ravaging the country. The support included the provision of pesticides, drones and other technological support.

Chinese Embassy Agricultural Commissioner Dr Gu Wenliang said that there is a lot of potential in Pakistan to enhance agricultural productivity through the use of better technology.

He further added that agricultural technology exchange and cooperation in capacity building are some of the key elements of this cooperation. The multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said, can be turned into a corridor for agricultural development through joint research labs and research centres.

With the next phase of CPEC involving collaboration and cooperation in agriculture, SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Suleri said that Pakistan needs to learn from China on developing drought-resistant wheat crops. Testing of hybrid seeds provided by China was an encouraging development, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2020.