‘Soybean farming to be enhanced in country’

Professor says advanced Chinese agri-technologies being introduced

ISLAMABAD:

China and Pakistan will observe the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in the coming month. As China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) enters the second phase, an increasing number of advanced Chinese agricultural technologies represented by maize-soybean strip inter-cropping are being brought to Pakistan to help improve local people's livelihood, promoting the friendship in a practical way.

“Agricultural cooperation is closely linked to people's livelihood as ample supply of high-quality meat, eggs, milk, rice and flour, etc. will make Pakistani people healthier. This is the best way of deepening the friendship because it benefits the Pakistani people directly,” said maize-soybean strip inter-cropping study leader Professor Yang Wenyu of China's Sichuan Agricultural University

Maize-soybean strip inter-cropping technology is widely acknowledged by farmers, governments, scientific research institutions and enterprises in the world, but it is not practised in Pakistan.

“A great number of people in Pakistan depend on animal husbandry for livelihood. Soybean, the premier protein choice for livestock, poultry and aquaculture production globally, is rarely planted in Pakistan while the demand for soybeans keeps rising.

Pakistan is China's brotherly friend so we started to help Pakistan revitalise soybean production," Yang told China Economic Net. He is providing generous support for this technology's development in Pakistan both technically and financially. Maize-soybean strip inter-cropping technology fit Pakistan's conditions perfectly.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2021.