Chinese company ships 500 tonnes of hybrid rice seeds to Pakistani customers

BEIJING: A total of 500 tonnes of hybrid rice seeds from a seed company in east China’s Jiangsu province have been transported to Pakistan to help ensure the country’s grain yield this year. It is estimated that about 33,333 hectares of land will be planted with those seeds.

Earlier this year, Jiangsu Hongqi Seed Industry Co Ltd, an enterprise engaged in wholesale and retail of crop seeds in China, reached an agreement with Pakistani customers to ship hybrid rice seeds after the spring festival, China Economic Net reported on Friday.

However, affected by the coronavirus epidemic, the seeds could not be processed and packaged as planned. Thanks to the help of the customs of Taizhou city in China’s Jiangsu province, which opened a green channel and streamlined the process, the seeds were finally loaded on a ship and departed for Pakistan.

“If these seeds could not be delivered to our customers in time, our business and reputation could be damaged, while the local grain yield in Pakistan could also be affected,” said Zha Lianqun, general manager of the company.

Since the end of last year, Pakistan has made efforts to combat locust plagues which have destroyed crops and threatened the livelihoods of farmers. “This batch of seeds aims to help ensure the grain yield of Pakistan this year,” Zha said, adding that China will provide more technical assistance as far as possible and work with Pakistan to fight the locust disaster.

China and Pakistan have seen closer cooperation in agriculture in recent years since the launch of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative in 2015.

China’s seed products have become very popular with Pakistani buyers for high resistance to temperature and diseases, and low yield reduction rate. The company obtained an order of 100 tonnes of hybrid rice seeds from Pakistan in 2017 and expects the export volume will exceed 1,000 tonnes in 2021.