Pakistan, China forge alliance to boost wheat seed productivity

Islamabad:In a bid to fortify wheat seed productivity and bolster global food security, a delegation comprising five wheat experts from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) convened in Islamabad for the "2nd China-Pakistan Joint Wheat Molecular Breeding Conference."

During the conference, held at Quaid-i-Azam University, representatives from Pakistan and China engaged in fruitful discussions aimed at identifying opportunities to enhance wheat seed productivity in Pakistan. The experts advocated for the adoption of specialized facultative wheat strains in resource-poor regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan to augment wheat production.

Dr. Zhonghu He, Director of the National Improvement Centre at CAAS and Distinguished Scientist and Country Representative for the China Office of CIMMYT, articulated the primary objective of establishing an internationally renowned laboratory. This laboratory, he emphasized, will serve as a collaborative platform for researchers and experts from both China and Pakistan to jointly advance wheat molecular breeding techniques and technologies.