Sorghum is an excellent source of food and feed, and plenty of products can be made from it, so there are ample opportunities for the sorghum industry in Pakistan with the help of China which would definitely improve Pakistan’s economy, said Dr. Qamar Shakil, Senior Scientist (Sorghum), Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Punjab, Pakistan.
Dr. Qamar Shakil told Gwadar Pro that mutual cooperation between the two countries can be given strength by long-term and short-term cooperation, seeking the future opportunities for expansion of sorghum production, export, and development in Pakistan. There is a need to take advantage of Chinese technology and experience under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in this field.
Why Mutual Cooperation Is Needed?
Since China is a major importer of Sorghum grain for manufacturing various products, there is plenty of room to expand the export of sorghum to China. Secondly, the quality of sorghum grain produced in Pakistan for the processing and extraction of different products is far better than that in some other countries.
Qamar told Gwadar Pro that the environment of Pakistan is most suitable for developing quality sorghum crops for grain, green chop, silage, haylage, and hay purposes. “As sorghum is a kharif (summer) season crop, so it does not compete with our staple crop (wheat), so there is plenty of cushion for its cultivation in Pakistan for export purposes. Finally in order to boost the economy by virtue of exports sorghum crop can play a pivotal role,” he added.
What Can Be Done to Strengthen This Cooperation?
Dr. Qamar Shakil said that in sorghum hybrids are used worldwide for the production of grain and green chop, unfortunately, very little research is done in Pakistan. China has much advancement in this regard, therefore their expertise can be hired for the development and improvement of research regarding hybrids development.
He further said that flood irrigation is mostly used in Pakistan. Due to the scarcity of water resources, there is a need to develop new reservoirs for water storage (small scale) and efficient utilization of available water through improved irrigation techniques.
Creation of Farmers’ Association;
Experts believe that in order to produce sorghum crops on a large scale, there is a need to create farmers’ associations for understanding the problems involved in sorghum production on a large scale and for resolving these issues. Likewise establishing farmer-based associations would allow for the pooling of acres and farms into large entities that would benefit from technology.
Sorghum Production Campaign;
For fetching out higher sorghum grain and fodder tonnage from unit area there is need to literate the farmers regarding adaptation of sorghum production plan.
Dr. Qamar Shakil further said that for meeting the sorghum grain and green chopped world standards, especially for export to China, there is a dire need to develop state of the art internationally accredited research laboratory to facilitate the rapid export of sorghum grain to China. For rapid transportation of sorghum grain and other related materials to China and similarly import of machinery and other types of equipment, CPEC can effectively be utilized for the purpose.
“There is a tremendous amount of international experience especially belonging to China that can assist in building the infrastructure in the sorghum breeding programs and animal nutrition that is required to enhance Pakistan’s ability to efficiently produce animals”, he added.
Experts believe sorghum production in Pakistan can be enhanced and will be available for export to China. This will aid in mutual cooperation between both countries and in this way local industry will flourish.
