Pakistan and China show off their ambition to modernise farming research.

Officials stated on Wednesday that Pakistan and China had come up with a detailed strategy for working together to modernise Pakistan’s agricultural research network through joint innovation, better labs, and training programs.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) worked together to come up with the plan. It was based on an evaluation of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), and 11 other research institutes that fall under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR).

It suggests a complete restructuring backed by internal reforms and a wider China-Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Framework to push for long-term modernisation. The main crops that joint research programs will focus on include wheat, rice, maize, cotton, and horticulture. They will also look at livestock management and sustainable technology.

Some of the most important sectors are crop varieties that can handle climate change, irrigation techniques that use less water, pest and disease control, and managing diseases in livestock.

The proposal calls for the creation of collaborative labs that can do crop genotyping, phenotyping, and high-tech agricultural applications. These labs will help with new ideas in food processing, adding value, and making farm machinery more local.

Human resource development is a key part, with bilateral exchange programs, PhD and postdoctoral fellowships, short-term technical training, and exchanges with senior scientists to improve Pakistan’s research capability.

A National Agricultural Technology Transfer Centre will coordinate Technology Transfer Units (TTUs) to handle intellectual property, licensing, and commercialisation in a new model for technology transfer. To stimulate new ideas, researchers and institutes will get 50 to 70 percent of the money made from commercialisation.

The plan also calls for connecting national research to regional demonstration hubs and farmer training centres to make sure that technologies get to the field. A high-level implementation committee made up of people from MNFSR, PARC, and other important stakeholders will oversee the project. This committee will keep an eye on progress, set goals, and make sure everyone is held accountable.