In recent years, buffalo milk has been increasingly more popular in China because of its certain health benefits and flavoursome taste. To tap the massive market potential of buffalo milk in China, Sino-Pak cooperation in buffalo embryo production, breeding and dairy processing is already happening and has achieved new milestone lately.
In China, many buffalo are hybrids of Chinese native buffalo and Pakistani buffalo for more than two or three generations. “Pakistan’s buffalo is superior to China’s local buffalo in terms of production and body shape. The milk yield of Pakistan’s buffalo is 5 to 6 times that of the Chinese local buffalo,” Lan Yong, Director for Animal Husbandry, Royal Cell Biotechnology (Guangxi) Ltd. said.
After being introduced to China, the hybrid buffalo’s milk production has been further lifted with advanced Chinese feeding technology, machinery, and management. “Now our company is constructing pasture in Pakistan, to which we will apply the mature Chinese technology so as to improve the production and operation management level of pasture in Pakistan,” Lan Yong said.
Notably, this year China’s Royal Group and Pakistan’s JW Group reached a joint venture agreement to boost the buffalo industry in Pakistan.
“Our joint venture plans to invest $100 million in 5 years. When fully completed, we will have an annual output value of $90 million. From the cultivation of pasture to the breeding of buffalo and deep processing, we will create nearly 1,000 jobs,” Teng Cuijin, Vice President of Royal Group and General Manager of Royal Cell Biotechnology (Guangxi) Ltd. told China Economic Net.
According to Teng Cuijin, they have built a central laboratory in Lahore, which has been officially put into use since this May. Technical exchange and training of embryonic production and breeding are going on in the lab between the company and Pakistani scientific research institutions.
“At present, the success rate of buffalo embryo transfer is still low. Embryo transfer can be done both in Pakistan and in China so that we can compare the efficiency of embryo transfer in different feeding environments. Our experience of embryo transfer made in China can be used in Pakistan if Pakistan needs it. On the whole, we should help improve the success rate of buffalo embryo transfer not only in China but also in Pakistan to promote bilateral technical exchanges and development,” Shang Jianghua, Technical Director, Royal Cell Biotechnology (Guangxi) Ltd. talked about the prospect of Sino-Pak cooperation in buffalo embryo transfer.
Shang Jianghua further said that to better use the Chinese embryonic biotechnology to help Pakistan increase its buffalo milk production, they are going to build a local technical team for buffalo embryo production including live egg collection, in vitro embryo production and embryo transfer in Pakistan.
It is learned that the Chinese and Pakistani governments have reached an agreement on the inspection and quarantine of Pakistan’s buffalo embryos exported to China, and Royal Cell is already going through some import procedures, which will advance the bilateral cooperation in the buffalo milk industry to reach win-win outcomes in the near future.
