Beijing hybrid wheat can take Pakistan through food crisis

BEIJING: These years, Beijing hybrid wheat from China has showed an increasing prominence in Pakistan,” the R&D Director of Guard Agri. Company, Dr. Rasheed said.

Wheat is the most important grain crop for Pakistan, its cultivated acreage is about 21.42 million acres and accounts for 44% of the country's total arable land.

However, the yield of wheat only reaches 2,700 kg per hectare. In comparison, the yield of Beijing hybrid wheat can reach 6,000 kg per hectare.

Gwadar Pro quoting Dr. Zhang Shengquan, an expert of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences said on Monday that Beijing hybrid wheat is an efficient solution to Pakistan’s wheat shortage.

Beijing hybrid wheat has outstanding drought resistance and barren tolerance, which is exactly suitable for the soil and climate in Pakistan.

Dr. Zhang further said, “In addition, Beijing hybrid wheat is tenacious enough to have a good harvest even under a loose management with low input.”

Beijing hybrid wheat is harvested in June. “Since 2012 Pakistan started to import Beijing hybrid wheat, the rate of increasing production has exceeded 50%,” he said.

Through a long-term research and experiment, over 120 hybridized combinations and more than 230 pilot projects, comparing with domestic breed, Beijing hybrid wheat has created a 24.4% average increase of yield.

Dr. Arif, the expert of The University of Agriculture Peshawar, said that importing Beijing hybrid wheat can economize vast cropland for other agricultural products. “It’s very necessary and meaningful for food security in the nation,” he said.

According to the global Food Crisis Report 2020 jointly released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP), drought conditions and locust plague have caused severe food shortages in Pakistan.

In response, Dr. Zhang said, “In order to support Pakistan to overcome the food crisis, we will accelerate promoting Beijing hybrid wheat in the nation. The cooperation on agriculture is a considerable part under CPEC project, " he added.