China Increases Sesame Imports from Pakistan, Targets 5,000 Tons in 2024

Xi Jianlong, the Project Manager, has announced that China is poised to ramp up its investment in the Pak-China contract farming sesame project, with plans to significantly increase sesame imports from Pakistan this year. In a recent interview, he disclosed that while China imported 400 tons of sesame from Pakistan in 2023, the target for this year is to import at least 5,000 tons, reflecting a substantial expansion in trade between the two countries.

The Pak-China contract farming sesame project, initiated by the Sino-Pak Agricultural Cooperation and Exchange Center under the auspices of the China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), aims to address challenges faced by Pakistani sesame farmers, such as limited market demand and cultivation scale. By leveraging China’s growing demand for sesame, the project seeks to bolster sesame exports from Pakistan.

The first batch of sesame from the project was successfully shipped to China at the end of 2023, marking a promising start for sesame exports. Sesame holds a strategic advantage for Pakistan due to its traditional cultivation and its status as one of the first crops to enter the market in the northern hemisphere annually. Moreover, Pakistan’s geographical proximity to China ensures a short shipping time of only ten to fifteen days by sea, further enhancing the competitiveness of Pakistani sesame in the Chinese market.

Since its inception in 2022, the project has made significant strides in seed selection and industrial models. The cultivation area surpassed 600 acres in 2023, signaling promising potential for sesame production. This growth is particularly noteworthy considering that the sesame cultivation area in Pakistan increased from 200,000 acres in 2018 to 1 million acres by 2023, demonstrating a remarkable expansion in sesame cultivation.

To further enhance efficiency in sesame production, the project plans to introduce advanced harvesting machinery and sorting equipment from China. Collaborations with agricultural machinery companies are underway, with plans to introduce combined harvesting and sowing machines, as well as drone-assisted pesticide spraying, to streamline farm management practices in Pakistan.

Additionally, the project provides crucial support to local farmers in terms of cultivation resources and technical training, resulting in a nearly doubled yield per acre compared to 2018. These initiatives not only contribute to the economic development of Pakistan’s agriculture sector but also foster closer bilateral ties between China and Pakistan through mutually beneficial cooperation in the agricultural domain.