Business

Pak-China red chilli farms achieving bumper harvest

Crops giving estimated yield of 700 tons of dried chillies

APP May 28, 2022

A chilli processing plant will be established in Pakistan within three years to extract chilli pigment and chilli essence, with an industrial output value of $200m. PHOTO: CHINA ECONOMIC NET

MULTAN:

Six model farms under Pakistan-China Red Chilli Contract Farming Project are achieving a bumper harvest in southern Punjab and northern Sindh, with an estimated yield of 700 tons of dried chillies.

According to China Machinery Engineering Corporation’s (CMEC) agricultural project leader in Pakistan Dai Bao, crops in the six model farms with a total area of nearly 300 acres began bearing fruit in May.

“When chillies are naturally dried, we’ll ship them to China for further processing,” he said.

Compared with last year, the size of planting area has increased six times, extending from Lahore to other parts of Punjab and Sindh. “The total output also increased sevenfold, and the yield per unit area increased by more than 30%,” Dai shared with a CEN reporter.

More than 200 local technicians were trained this planting season and nearly 1,000 jobs were created, he added.

Based on planting, they will further develop downstream deep-processing industries and create more employment opportunities for the locals in the future.

As China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has entered into a stage of enrichment and expansion since 2020, agricultural exchanges and cooperation have become the focus for both China and Pakistan.

The chilli contract farming project was launched with joint efforts of the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Security and Research and companies from both countries, including CMEC, China, Sichuan Litong Food Group, China, Fatima Group, Pakistan, and so on.

The project is also designed to modernise the agriculture sector in Pakistan, including providing new seeds to enhance crop yield, providing skill development to farmers as well as boosting the export of agricultural products from Pakistan to other countries.

The article originally appeared on the China Economic Net

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2022.

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COMMENTS (2)

Sajjad Haider | 2 years ago | Reply A super informative article and ver well written and articulated providing insights into red chillies farming projects initiated in Pakistan by China and Pakistan under CPEC Hopefully both countries will reap the benefits in coming years

test | 2 years ago | Reply Sorry to say but the world is trying to make latest semiconductors aircrafts fastest and reliable railway networks electric cars innovative technologies powered by artificial intelligence state of the art defense equipment and also yes nano technology and quantum technologies....etc But what are we trying to achieve Red Chili. Yes the title says it all. LoL. China is making a big mistake which i have told multiple times before and that is if your neighbor Pakistan which you call your ally is not financially successful. How can a country sitting far away will benefit from your BRI China must shift its industry to Pakistan and make it financially successful or who else will become a part of your BRI Success follows its own path but failure no one likes and no one follow. If Pakistan s economy failed which i hope will not but if by any chance then world will say hey Pakistan embraced BRI and this happened to its economy. Will China like that If not then shift your industries to Pakistan as soon as possible in order to impress other countries that BRI is successful and will transform their economies and industries.

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