ISLAMABAD - The 6th International Symposium on the Belt and Road Bio-health Agriculture and China-SCO National Bio-Health Agriculture Overseas Science and Technology Demonstration Park Construction Forum was held at Northwest A&F University (NWAFU), China in the recent week.
Prof Mushtaq Ahmad from Quaid-i-Azam University, a member of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, and Professor Zhang Lixin from NWAFU served as chairmen of the conference.
Co-organisers include but not limited to the Silkroad (Yangling) Biohealth Agricultural Industry Alliance (SBHAIA), the Sino-Pak Research Center for Agro-Biological Resources, the Sino-Pak Agricultural Cooperation and Exchange Center, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan, Shaanxi Hybrid Rapeseed Research Centre.
According to Gwadar Pro, more than 200 representatives home and abroad, from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Malaysia, Czech Republic, Iran, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, participated in the forum offline and online.
In a keynote speech, Luo Jun, Vice President of NWAFU, noted that all parties availed the opportunity to discuss the theme of promoting food safety through agricultural biodiversity and smart multifunctional agriculture.
Matters also came under discussion for promoting the development of biodiversity, green and smart agriculture through scientific and technological collaboration among countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.
“Meanwhile, researches involved potential crops, Chinese medicinal materials and energy plant varieties, and built a technical system for biodiversity and ecological restoration, bio-healthy agricultural product production, and agricultural environmental governance are proceeding orderly, thus achieved rich results,” Luo added.
“Agriculture is Pakistan’s economic pillar. Through holding scuh seminar, China and Pakistan should accelerate the cooperation process in agricultural talent training, establishment of joint laboratories, construction of demonstration parks, and development of smart agriculture,” emphasised Khan Muhammad Wazir, Scientific Counselor of the Pakistani Embassy in China.
Prof Zabta Khan Shinwari, President of Federal Urdu University of Science and Technology, Pakistan, and Professor Shukhrat Shokirov, Vice President of Tashkent University of Water Resources and Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Uzbekistan, also expressed earnest desire and specific suggestions to strengthen China-Pakistan and China-Uzbekistan agricultural cooperation with NWAFU in their speeches.
A total of 20 keynote reports on biodiversity, production of bio-healthy agricultural products, as well as green and smart agriculture, have been delivered by Chinese and Pakistani representatives.
They included Prof Mushtaq Ahmad, Prof Muhammad Ishtiaq Al, Prof Zabta Khan Shinwari, Prof Shah Nawaz Mari, Prof Hafiz Saad Bin Mustafa, Senior Researcher Shazia Sultana, Associate Prof Shabana Memon, Researcher Guo Rui from Shaanxi Aerospace Breeding Engineering Technology Research Center, Jia Shuhao, Cloud Solution Architect of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., and Dai Bao, Deputy General Manager of China Machinery Industry Engineering Group’s Pakistan subsidiary.
“Biohealth Agriculture” (BHA) was put forward by Prof Zhang Lixin, NWAFU in 2017 at the first International Symposium on the Belt and Road Bio-health.
It refered to the use of biological means for safe and high-quality agricultural production involving the sustainability of soil, plant, animal, human and ecosystem health, reducing or excluding external agricultural inputs, especially pesticides and synthetic fertilizers or other hazardous/toxic chemicals. During the five-day period, a sub-forum on healthy aquaculture and waste resource utilisation has also been held.