Lahore - A Chinese hybrid rice breeder namely Shande Liu has greatly helped the local farmers increase the production of rice in Pakistan.
The famous hybrid rice breeder, who joined the Seed Group in China’s Province Hubei in 1994, helped the farmers to increase the rice production from 60 to 130 maund per acre. He started breeding programme in Pakistan in 2004. After that, the hybrid rice varieties HR 40 (Purkhraj), HR14 and Y26 have been released in Pakistan. These varieties have been getting more sales from 2007 to 2012. Annual Orientation of 2,500 metric tons of seed is being sold by Auriga Seed Company. Those have got 40pc shares of the market and increased farmers income hugely.
In 2012, he set up his own seed company Wuhan Comega Seed Company Ltd, in collaboration with a Chinese seed company, which holds a renowned position in hybrid rice breeding and seed production in China.
He continued the collaboration with Auriga Seed Company in Pakistan. A new two-line rice hybrid CR58 was released by Pakistan government. It is a super rice hybrid with high yield and good stress tolerance. In an exclusive interview with The Nation at Nawa-i-Waqt Media Group office in Lahore, he talked about the hybrid rice cultivation and seed production in Pakistan. He said that the land and the farmers in Pakistan are capable of boosting the agriculture sector.
