PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi has signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s Chengdu Yihe Technology to expand cooperation in precision agriculture and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies, the university said. The agreement was signed on Saturday at the China-Pakistan Research and Development Center for Modern Agriculture and Efficient Water Technologies on the university campus.

The ceremony was attended by key stakeholders, including the Director External Linkages, Incharge, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Arid Agriculture Univ., international industrial collaborators (Xinjiang Tianye) for Modern Agriculture, and international students. The agreement aims to introduce drone-based crop monitoring, data-driven farming tools and other smart agricultural technologies to improve productivity, water efficiency and sustainable food production in Pakistan.

“The partnership will also support research collaboration and capacity-building for local farmers and researchers,” as per the university’s statement. PMAS-AAUR already works with several Chinese universities and research institutes. The Pak-China agriculture center, jointly established in 2024 with partners in Xinjiang under the Green Pakistan Initiative, serves as a platform for joint research, technology demonstration and training in modern and water-saving farming practices.

The collaboration also aligns with the China-Pakistan Action Plan for an Even Closer Community with a Shared Future (2025–2029), which calls for deeper cooperation in agriculture, technology and capacity-building. The plan encourages joint work in “crop cultivation, agricultural mechanization, seed technology and drip irrigation,” as well as the creation of “agricultural modernization demonstration zones in Pakistan.”

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP) — Pak-China