BEIJING – Pakistan is looking forward to cooperate with China through collaborative research in an effort to enhance its production of banana. Chinas contribution to the international banana market is around 4. 5. However Pakistanis contribution is less than 0. 5. We are far behind. I think China and Pakistan can cooperate through collaborative research. We can progress and get benefit from each other, Nosherwan Haider, CEO, and Sprouts Biotech Laboratories, said in an interview with China Economic Net. Up till today, Sino-Pak cooperation on banana is still very limited. Lack of high-quality seeds, advanced cultivation technology and logistic facility remain a large obstacle to boosting banana production and exports in Pakistan, for which Pakistani researchers and farmers are looking forward to getting support from China.
The main problem we have here is the choice of good seeds. And, the rate of fertilizers is very high here. We lack good seeds. Nowadays we have a kind of seeds here known as tissue culture seed, which is also imported from China. We should choose good seeds. China is helping us in this already. But if we receive more help then we can achieve better results, Imran Shah, a farmer from NQ Farms said. When it comes to planting technology, research on tissue culture of banana is being carried out in some labs in Pakistan.
The production of tissue culture banana is three times higher than that of our conventional banana. Conventional banana harvests in 16 to 18 months while our tissue culture banana fruits in the seventh month. Tissue culture banana is disease free and harsh weather tolerant. The production of plants produced in our lab lasts throughout the year. People get a lot of benefit from it, Nosherwan Haider, CEO, and Sprouts Biotech Laboratories told CEN. However, as Nosherwan Haider sees it, in most areas of Pakistan, the growing of banana is not as per proper method, which makes banana production not as high as it should be. Pakistani researchers long for Chinese technologies that may help Pakistan further improve local banana yield.
Original Link: https://www.nation.com.pk/04-Dec-2022/pakistan-looks-forward-to-cooperating-with-china-on-banana-cultivation