Pak-China high-level hybrid wheat collaboration to ensure grain safety in Pakistan: Expert

China Economic Net

Beijing: Professor Zhao Changping, Chief Scientist of Hybrid Wheat Research Institute, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences said that a group of Chinese wheat experts was working diligently and quietly with Pakistani scientists on hybrid wheat cooperation to increase wheat production in Pakistan.

Hybrid wheat is considered to be the first choice to solve the food crisis in the international agricultural science community, he said in an interview with China Economic Net (CEN).

Prof Zhao said when it comes to China-Pakistan hybrid wheat cooperation, the selection and breeding of hybrid wheat varieties suitable for the local environment requires the cooperation of both parties. Therefore, we have established test stations in Peshawar, Lahore and Yuanmou in Yunnan Province, which is very similar to Pakistan’s local climate, he told.

It is learned that so far, the Chinese team’s hybrid wheat demonstration fields in Pakistan have been maintained at about 3,000-5,000 hectares. “From Peshawar and Islamabad in the north, Lahore in the center to Karachi in the south, our hybrid wheat has performed well in all the major producing regions”, emphasized Zhao.

He also said, what’s more gratifying is that through the cooperation of scientists from both sides, we discovered that by using the Pakistani wheat varieties as a distant parent to cross with Chinese wheat, the varieties produced are more dominant. In addition, he told the hybridization of spring wheat in the southern wheat region and winter wheat in the northern wheat region can also produce dominant hybrids.

“The emergene of new varieties has given us momentum as we solve the two main problems, yield and disease resistance,” added Prof Zhang Shengquan, Deputy Director of the Hybrid Wheat Research Institute of BAAFS. “In 2019, after nearly ten years of cooperation, the selected hybrid wheat combinations, such as the new variety BH1683, have increased by more than 20 percent in Pakistan for three consecutive years, and can be widely used in the wheat regions in central and northern Pakistan, including Lahore and Peshawar. In addition, in the joint experiment between China and Pakistan, even if the sowing amount was reduced by 80-90 percent, BH1683 still has the potential to increase yield by 20 percent. After the introduction of the dominant genes of Chinese wheat, its disease resistance is also more advantageous than that of local varieties”.

Several Pakistani scientists who have been in contact with me for a long time, such as Dr. Muhammad Arif, Department of Agronomy UAP, have mentioned that wheat production in Pakistan has encountered unprecedented challenges. For instance, last year’s rare high temperature once again tested Pakistan’s traditional wheat varieties, which has also deepened the understanding of China and Pakistan on the cultivation and application of wheat hybrids to ensure food security. At present, our pace of cooperation is accelerating, and is moving towards the direction of joint research to global food security,” Prof Zhang said

“We are working closely with the university of Agriculture, Peshawar and GUARD Agricultural Research & Services Private Ltd. In addition, the Ministry of Science and Technology of Pakistan, in addition, the Ministry of Science and Technology of Pakistan, the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, and the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan have also support us as far as they could.”

At the end of the interview, Professor Zhao noted that this year marks not only the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, but also happens to be the 10th anniversary of China’s hybrid wheat going global. “China-Pakistan hybrid wheat cooperation is a model of high-tech agriculture going international, and a sign of China-Pakistan friendship. It is our incontrovertible mission as agricultural practitioners to develop hybrid wheat to benefit the people of Pakistan and the whole world. I predict that by around 2030, not only Pakistan, not only South Asia, our hybrid wheat will enter the stage of large-scale application in all continents.”