Pakistan, China sugarcane cooperation stressed

Pakistan and China can produce high-grade sugar in abundance and export it across the world, said Dr Gu Wenliang, Agricultural Commissioner of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, according to China Economic Net (CEN). “Sugarcane cooperation between China and Pakistan will bring sweet revolution, and will literally turn the friendship between the two nations ‘sweeter than honey’,” he remarked.

Dr. Gu Wenliang was speaking at “China-Pakistan Sugarcane Industry Cooperation and Exchange Forum” where experts from both China and Pakistan participated and exchanged views. “It is a great forum. Our responsibility is to connect people and experts from China & Pakistan and provide them a platform. This is what we are doing with zeal and zest. China and Pakistan should join hands to promote sugarcane production and processing to produce high-grade sugar. Believe me, two iron friends can export sugar to the world if they enhance cooperation in this field,” he said, adding that the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan will continue connecting people from both sides.

Liu Kui, Director of International Cooperation Department, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), introduced different aspects of CATAS, and gave an impressive industrialization application of ‘Tissue Culture’ which, according to him, can bring revolution in the production of sugarcane. “Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Science has been giving training to the scientists across the globe. It has introduced 100 training courses for 4,000 participants from more than 90 countries. More than 40 young scientists from Asia, Africa, and Latin America came to CATAS for medium and long term visits and exchanges,” he said, adding that CATAS has sent its experts to more than twenty countries to conduct agriculture technology guidance and demonstration of extension.

Dr Zhang Shuzhen, Researcher from Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology of CATAS strongly rejected using conventional seeds. “Conventional seeds are not suitable for planting. Breeding and planting disease free seedlings are perfect for sugarcane production,” she told participants of meeting. While giving impressive presentation, Dr. Zhang Shuzhen made it loud and clear that by applying integrated disease-free techniques, the pathogens of viruses and RSD can be removed, and problem of degradation and purification can be solved simultaneously,” she said.

“As CPEC inches near to completion in Pakistan, we are offering our latest agricultural technology to Pakistan. We are here to modernize Pakistan’s agriculture sector,” Dai Bao, Manager of China Machinery Engineering Corporation, Head of China-Pakistan Agricultural Cooperation and Exchange Center said, while presenting well-prepared presentation in the forum. He said CMEC has a deep understanding of the Pakistani market and its development in the past four decades, a long time span CMEC has endured since it entered the country in the 1980s. “Pakistan is a traditional agricultural country, but there is still a lot more to do to modernize its agriculture sector to enable it to meet international. We are here to help Pakistan achieve goals. We established the Pakistan-China Agricultural Cooperation and Exchange Center in the first place in 2019 and now the Information Platform, in a wish to vitalize cooperation between the enterprises and research institutions of the two sides and promote Pakistan’s development in agriculture,” Dai Bao said.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Shahid Afghan, acting CEO SRDB, said Pakistan’s sugarcane industry couldn’t prosper until growers get leading sugarcane variety. “Pakistan is still far from getting access to leading sugarcane varieties which offer great resistance against diseases. We must start sugarcane breeding program in Pakistan with the help of China. It is the need of hour,” he said.

Manzoor Soomro of ECOSF stressed on the need of collaboration between Pakistan and Chinese governments in agriculture sector and said ‘it is the need of hour’.

Taking part in discussion, Fateh Mari, Vice Chancellor of Tandojam University, said there lies great scope of cooperation between China and Pakistan in agriculture sector including ‘sugar industry’. “We need to cooperate so that we can learn from China and China can learn from Pakistan. It will mutually benefit us,” he said.