Better Sino-Pak cooperation emphasised

Islamabad:Experts have called for better China-Pakistan support and cooperation in the field of agriculture, especially for banana cultivation.

Nosherwan Haider of the Sprouts Biotech Laboratories told reporters that China’s contribution to the international banana market was around 4.5 percent but Pakistan lagged far behind with less than 0.5 percent contribution.

Regretting limited Sino-Pak farming cooperation, he called for better collaboration between the two countries on banana production. “We [Pakistan] lack high-quality banana seeds, advanced cultivation technology, and logistic facility, so China can help boost our banana production and exports,” he said.

Imran Shah, a farmer from NQ Farms, complained about the unavailability of good seeds and high fertilizer rates and said Chinese support could address the issue. Haider said some Pakistani labs were researching banana tissue culture, which increased production three times compared with that of conventional farming and yielded disease-free and harsh weather-tolerant crops.

He said Pakistani researchers wanted Chinese technologies to improve local banana yields. “We should exchange technology with China through better collaborations,” he said. According to exporter Ibrahim Nizamani, Pakistan is sending bananas to Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan with China being a dream export destination, but the local farmers struggle to preserve and transport bananas.

“Our people should be taught how to harvest and package bananas and send them to the market as our 30-40 percent banana production is destroyed during harvesting and transportation,” he said. He complained about a lack of cold storage in farms, which, he said, harmed banana quality.

The experts also called for a smooth electricity supply to ensure the good quality of bananas. They said enhancing Sino-Pak cooperation on banana cultivation was expected to bring win-win outcomes to both countries in the days ahead.

“China and Pakistan can collaborate through joint research. We can progress and get benefit from each other. Pakistan has a lot of land. We have good weather. We have a labour force. China has technology. We can benefit from China by getting some technologies related to agricultural practices and hybrid varieties. China will also get benefit and we can export bananas to China through China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” Haider said.