BEIJING, Nov. 30 (INP): China-Pak sustainable agriculture cooperation shines at the ongoing 2023 China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Thursday. The report says, Plump rice grains, sweet melons, fragrant sesames... an endless stream of visitors were full of praise for the dazzling array of agricultural products at the expo. “From the single germplasm resource cooperation and product trade to current Agriculture Value Chain (AVC) comprehensive business, the cooperation between Syngenta Group and Pakistan in the agricultural field has great potential, undoubtedly,” a staff at Syngenta Group China told CEN. “By supplying inputs and production services to growers, bartering with entities in core producing areas in exchange for key agricultural products, while linking China’s agricultural product market demand and opening up the global upstream and downstream chains, the AVC model has brought practical benefits to farmers in Pakistan.”

Sesame cultivation in Pakistan has tripled in the past 5 years. In the South Asia country, sesame is grown on roughly 600,000 acres with a per acre yield of 0.5 tons.  As most Pakistan sesame is for export, with more than 1/3 goes to China, Syngenta global AVC aims to link the quality sesame from Pakistani growers served by Syngenta with international value chain partners especially in China.  In May 2023, APAC’s first Centrigo Flagship Center of Syngenta launched in Okara, Punjab, serving more than 500 farmers on exceed 10,000 acres of farming on potato, corn, rice, vegetables and sesame. All of them get top-quality agronomy inputs including seeds, fertilizer, crop protection, services such as drones spraying and farm mechanization. Such a farming ecosystem is helping local farmers achieve better yield and ROI. Mian Bashir Ahmad, one of Centrigo growers who benefits from the protocols, smiled with satisfaction. “I have 150 acres of farmland, among which sesame occupies 20 acres. 

My guidance from planting to harvesting was done by a team of Centrigo Flagship Center. By using drones to spray insecticides they provided, my sesame yields increased by 10 percent.  Owe to the improved quality of exported sesame, I received a price 30 percent higher than the average market price.” While increasing production and income for local farmers, AVC serves China’s domestic edible grain and oil import diversification, which is a win-win situation under the global supply chain system. In order to promote agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road, Jianghuai Horticulture Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Syngenta Group China, has established cooperative relationships with scientific research institutions, enterprises and farmers in 18 Asian, African and Latin American countries and regions.

These include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Egypt, and so on. 3

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