A Chinese seed company and the Pakistani embassy in China have agreed to explore opportunities to enhance collaboration in breeding seeds in a recent meeting between Chinese seed enterprise Hainan State Farms Nanfan Industrial Group and Fareena Arshad, Counsellor of Pakistan embassy in China. Speaking at the meeting, the counsellor said Pakistan possesses high-quality tropical fruit and agricultural germplasm resources and that in her role as counsellor, she will actively promote collaboration between agricultural enterprises in both countries and build a solid platform for agricultural research and development, cultivation, and processing industries.

Chairman Li Zhiquan of the Chinese seed company noted that the company will communicate with Pakistani seed enterprises and research institutes and seek possible avenues for seed breeding, agricultural R&D and cultivation. As a first step, an online forum will be organised in the near future to rally bilateral seed companies and promote seed cooperation and exchanges, the company’s overseas department director told China Economic Net (CEN).

It is pertinent to mention that China has collected 124,000 new agricultural germplasm resources during the country's third census since 2015, as per an early-April conference on the seed industry in China’s southern coastal city of Sanya. Hainan State Farms Nanfan Industrial Group specialises in breeding tropical crop seeds and has established extensive collaborations with research institutions, universities, and enterprises in China.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP