A delegation comprising of members from Farmer Associates of Pakistan and Pakistan Agriculture Research council visiting China on the invitation of Embassy of China. The visit lasted from April 23 to April 30.
The delegation was headed by Mr. Afaq Tiwana, a prominent farmer and head of FAP. Other members of the delegation including Dr. Kamal, Dr. Fayyaz and Dr. Amanullah from PARC, Mr. Syed Ejaz Haider, Mr. Ibadullah and Mr. Sirbuland Hoti from FAP. Special delegated included Mr. Amer Aziz from HBL and Majid Rafiq from Pakissan.
The objective of the visit was to meet Policy makers, Research institutions, Teaching institutes, Farmer Org and Business entities of China and learn from their experience in ground breaking work in Agriculture.
As it was observed the productivity of Pakistani farmer is at 50% that of Farmers in China.
Delegation participated in the workshop arranged by Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences under the ambit of CATAS-CIAT-Biodiversity collaboration.
Later the delegation met Hanan Province Ministry of Science and Technology and exchanged views with Mr. Zhao Qinghui (Depty Director General).
The Delegation later travelled to city of Sanya where had a discussion session with Sanya Nanfan Institute of Science and Technology. A complete overview on Tropical Agriculture in China was presented.
Next stop was University of Science and Technology in the city of Changsha. Here the delegation met the faculty of School of Electrical and information Engineering who gave detail overview their work in the field of Agriculture and Energy development. Several private sector companies also presented their products and services.
Later Delegation met with Vice president, Mr. Fangming Xie of Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co. Ltd, a leading Chinese seed company.
Whole trip was perfectly planned by Govt of China and each day was fully utilized. From Changsha, Delegation took a high speed train to the capital city of Beijing.
China Science Center of International Eurasia Academy of Sciences was the first meeting place. This center represented an apex think tank for policy formulation for Gov of China. Experts of different disciplines and fields come together and deliberate for a wholesome integrate approach to formulate policies and strategies in the field of Agriculture.
Next two days delegation was shown around the city marvels of history and contemporary art. Summer Place, Forbidden City, Olympic Park, Tienanmen Square, Center for performing art and great wall was visited by the delegation. During all this hosts took extra care for Food and took the delegation to exquisite Muslim restaurants.
In China Academy of Agriculture science, delegation observed latest green house and hydroponics research being done. Later China University of Agriculture was visited and detail presentation on University was given. Pakistani students doing PhD work also joined and share their excellent experience at the university. Research center on National Flower of China was of keen interest for the delegation. Feed and Mechanization center was the last stop at the Agriculture university.
Last Meeting of the tour was with Seed Association of China. Delegation was keen in exploring mutually beneficial relationship with the association to which Vice president gave full assurance of cooperation.
In Conclusion it was observed that China has exceled in field of Agriculture through bringing together different Sciences and policy framework in an integrated manner. All Stakeholders of Agronomic world are in sync with National vision of the leadership. From Gov Depts, Research Org, Universities, Private Sector to Farm Orgs, all are working towards one goal. This has led to unprecedented focus and collaboration within institutions and resultantly have achieved remarkable progress in a very short span of time.
On the other hand Pakistan Has extensive Agriculture landscape but due to lack of technology and mechanization Agriculture productivity levels well below that of China.
This trip showed that this gap provides a unique opportunity for both countries to create synergies and collaborations in Agriculture.
There will be follow-up to this trip so that solid structure can be created to capitalize on the lessons learned on this very successful trip.