From Our
Correspondent
BEIJING: Pakistan-China cooperation program on cotton improvement is underway.
“While Pakistan is still struggling to cope with the problems of insect pests, diseases, fiber quality and yield in the cotton industry, China has already made a significant breakthrough to overcome these problems long ago, said agriculture scientist Muhammad Shahid Iqbal.
Shahid is currently working as a Ph.D. scholar on the program initiated by Cotton Research Institute (CRI), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) in collaboration with Cotton Research Institute Multan, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, and several Pakistani agriculture universities.
He is part of the Pakistan-China joint research program aimed at cotton improvement especially for fiber quality and yield, which is beneficial to both countries.
Since the last few years, especially with the introduction of CPEC, China and Pakistan have developed many collaborative activities and joint projects in the agricultural sector where the scientific staff of both countries can work together.
“It’s beneficial for both sides because the geological proximity and similar weather conditions in some parts of the countries mean more convenience and efficiency in conducting field experiments,” Shahid said.
Pakistan has seen a lower production of cotton for the past several years because of frequent extreme weathers, the scourge of insect pests, and insufficient technological investment in the cotton industry.
“So the objective of the program I’m working on is to crossbreed a new variety of cotton that may have better performance for yield, quality, and resistance across diverse environments,” Shahid said in an interview with CEN. For textile usage, there are three major types of cotton in a broad sense. They include: Egyptian cotton (G. barbadense), known as extra-long staple cotton, is highly sensitive to environment and mostly cultivated in Egypt and a few other areas
American upland cotton (G. hirsutum), making up about 90 percent of the world’s cotton crop, is comprised of relatively shorter fibers and widely used in a variety of consumer products where manufacturers are looking for quality and purity in an all-natural fiber.
Asiatic Cotton (G. arboreum), existed since prehistory and have been under cultivation mostly in China, India, and Pakistan, has a lot of good qualities including resistance to diseases and tolerance to extreme weathers but has coarse fiber and very low yield.
There are also landraces that have grown hundreds of years to adapt to local conditions.
