Pak-China agricultural cooperation enhanced

Chinese, Pakistani universities have also joined forces to develop crop cultivation techniques

BEIJING:

Agricultural cooperation between China and Pakistan has achieved substantial results as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) entered its second stage with more projects and hopes of prosperity.

According to the research report, “10 Years of Belt and Road Initiative – CPEC”, released by the financial think-tank, KASB | KTrade, many advanced Chinese agricultural technologies are promoted in Pakistan, while Chinese and Pakistani universities have also joined forces to develop crop cultivation techniques, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

Dr Muhammad Ali Raza, a graduate of China’s Sichuan Agricultural University, promoted China’s maize-soybean strip intercropping technology in Pakistan with support from Professor Yang Wenyu.

Inter-cropping Technology

In 2022, the initiative convinced nearly 200 farmers to adopt this technology. This led to the total demonstrative area of maize-soybean strip intercropping technology to surge over 400 acres, about 2.67 times that of last autumn in Pakistan. This technology will help Pakistan reduce soybean oil imports, saving valuable foreign reserves.

Read Economic revival, CPEC and Agenda 2047 – II

Chinese hybrid wheat demonstration fields in Pakistan have been maintained at about 3,000-5,000 hectares. About 80% farmers in Pakistan are engaged in wheat production, and the total area of wheat cultivation occupies as much as 40% of the total agricultural land in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2023.

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