Chinese rice breeding tech boosts agricultural development in Asia, Africa
BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- In a laboratory at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) in northern Beijing, researchers are busy tagging and editing genes in rice, a key component of the complex breeding process of green super rice (GSR).
As its name suggests, this variety of rice boasts high yields while remaining environmentally friendly.
"We apply the method of genetic screening to put the quality or the traits that we need in the rice," said Xu Jianlong, a professor at the Laboratory for Molecular Rice Breeding under the Institute of Crop Sciences, CAAS.
Since 2008, under the support of Chinese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the laboratory began to develop GSR varieties to boost the agricultural development in resource-poor areas in Africa and Asia.
"We have been breeding different GSR varieties that are able to adapt to different ecological environments in different countries. In Africa, for example, we breed varieties that are more resilient to drought and high temperature, while in Southeast Asia where typhoons are common, we produce rice that is resilient to collapse and diseases such as bacterial blight," Xu explained.
According to the expert, when super typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013, all crops of local rice varieties at the island of Leyte were wiped out. "However, the GSR8 variety we trialed planting there showed better tolerance to flooding, drought and salt damage, with a harvest of 1.2 tons per hectare."
The Philippine government then decided to promote the use of GSR8 seeds, resulting in the rapid expansion of GSR variety to cover 430,000 hectares in 2014. As of 2018, the GSR varieties have been promoted in the Philippines for a total of 1.09 million hectares, accounting for 22.64 percent of the country's rice acreage. By 2021, the cumulative area of GSR varieties reached 10.8 million hectares in the Philippines.
Successful stories were also found in other Asian countries. The NIBGE-GSR1, which was promoted in Pakistan, has an average yield of about 9.5 tons per hectare, compared to 7 tons for the local variety. Currently, six GSR varieties, including NIBGE-GSR1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and NIAB GSR39, have been certified by the Pakistani authorities, according to CAAS.
Xu Jianlong (2nd R), a professor at the Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, explains how to conduct seed selection of green super rice at a farm in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, Nov. 13, 2022. (CAAS Institute of Crop Sciences/Handout via Xinhua)
For the CAAS experts, the roll-out of the GSR in Africa has been quite challenging, since the agricultural infrastructure there is relatively poor.
With the technical support of CAAS, Green Agriculture West Africa Ltd., attached to Chinese construction company CGCOC Group, has developed the GSR variety GAWAL R1 to help increase rice production. Validated in Nigeria in 2017, GAWAL R1 yielded about 30 percent more than the local variety Faro 44. With its popularization, the average rice yield across Nigeria rose from 1.98 tons per hectare in 2019 to 2.5 tons per hectare in 2022.
"We will make more efforts to help West African countries establish rice seed industry systems and ease their tight food demand," Xu said.
According to CAAS, over the past decade, 78 GSR varieties developed by the GSR project group have been tested, certified, and promoted in 18 countries and regions in Africa and Asia, with a cumulative planting area of over 6 million hectares, benefiting over 1.6 million farmers.
China's experience in rice cultivation and production has made a significant contribution to the food security of Asian and African countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which launched nearly 10 years ago, Xu said.
As for their future plans, the expert believes that it is very important to "teach them how to breed rice" instead of just "giving them rice."
Currently, 58 postgraduate students from 15 countries are pursuing master's or doctoral degrees in Chinese research institutes.
"Also, we have provided advanced training in GSR breeding techniques to nearly 943 scientists and technicians from 15 countries, and there will be more training in the days to come," Xu said.
The expert believes that using Chinese technology to ensure food security in developing countries is of great importance to the BRI construction and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
"Our ultimate goal is to help farmers in those countries become self-sufficient in rice production," Xu added.
Chinese rice breeding tech boosts agricultural development in Asia, Africa
In a laboratory at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) in northern Beijing, researchers are busy tagging and editing genes in rice, a key component of the complex breeding process of green super rice (GSR).
As its name suggests, this variety of rice boasts high yields while remaining environmentally friendly.
"We apply the method of genetic screening to put the quality or the traits that we need in the rice," said Xu Jianlong, a professor at the Laboratory for Molecular Rice Breeding under the Institute of Crop Sciences, CAAS.
Since 2008, under the support of Chinese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the laboratory began to develop GSR varieties to boost the agricultural development in resource-poor areas in Africa and Asia.
"We have been breeding different GSR varieties that are able to adapt to different ecological environments in different countries. In Africa, for example, we breed varieties that are more resilient to drought and high temperature, while in Southeast Asia where typhoons are common, we produce rice that is resilient to collapse and diseases such as bacterial blight," Xu explained.
According to the expert, when super typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013, all crops of local rice varieties at the island of Leyte were wiped out. "However, the GSR8 variety we trialed planting there showed better tolerance to flooding, drought and salt damage, with a harvest of 1.2 tons per hectare."
The Philippine government then decided to promote the use of GSR8 seeds, resulting in the rapid expansion of GSR variety to cover 430,000 hectares in 2014. As of 2018, the GSR varieties have been promoted in the Philippines for a total of 1.09 million hectares, accounting for 22.64 percent of the country's rice acreage. By 2021, the cumulative area of GSR varieties reached 10.8 million hectares in the Philippines.
Successful stories were also found in other Asian countries. The NIBGE-GSR1, which was promoted in Pakistan, has an average yield of about 9.5 tons per hectare, compared to 7 tons for the local variety. Currently, six GSR varieties, including NIBGE-GSR1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and NIAB GSR39, have been certified by the Pakistani authorities, according to CAAS.
For the CAAS experts, the roll-out of the GSR in Africa has been quite challenging, since the agricultural infrastructure there is relatively poor.
With the technical support of CAAS, Green Agriculture West Africa Ltd., attached to Chinese construction company CGCOC Group, has developed the GSR variety GAWAL R1 to help increase rice production. Validated in Nigeria in 2017, GAWAL R1 yielded about 30 percent more than the local variety Faro 44. With its popularization, the average rice yield across Nigeria rose from 1.98 tons per hectare in 2019 to 2.5 tons per hectare in 2022.
"We will make more efforts to help West African countries establish rice seed industry systems and ease their tight food demand," Xu said.
According to CAAS, over the past decade, 78 GSR varieties developed by the GSR project group have been tested, certified, and promoted in 18 countries and regions in Africa and Asia, with a cumulative planting area of over 6 million hectares, benefiting over 1.6 million farmers.
China's experience in rice cultivation and production has made a significant contribution to the food security of Asian and African countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which launched nearly 10 years ago, Xu said.
As for their future plans, the expert believes that it is very important to "teach them how to breed rice" instead of just "giving them rice."
Currently, 58 postgraduate students from 15 countries are pursuing master's or doctoral degrees in Chinese research institutes.
"Also, we have provided advanced training in GSR breeding techniques to nearly 943 scientists and technicians from 15 countries, and there will be more training in the days to come," Xu said.
The expert believes that using Chinese technology to ensure food security in developing countries is of great importance to the BRI construction and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
"Our ultimate goal is to help farmers in those countries become self-sufficient in rice production," Xu added.
Chinese hybrid rice offers solution to global food shortage: ministry
Mao said that half a century ago, hybrid rice was developed and is now popularized in China, helping China feed nearly one-fifth of the world's population with less than 9 percent of the world's arable land.
Hybrid rice has been introduced to nearly 70 countries and regions on five continents in the world, making outstanding contributions to increasing grain production and agricultural development in those areas, providing China's solution to food shortages, she said.
China's grain production capacity has steadily increased, with output stabilizing at more than 1.3 trillion jin (650 million tons) for seven consecutive years, reaching a record high of 1.3657 trillion jin in 2021, with per capita grain volume reaching 483 kilograms, achieving basic grain self-sufficiency and food security.
Mao noted that China attaches great importance to global food security, which has become an increasingly serious problem.
China has listed food security as one of the eight key areas of cooperation in its Global Development Initiative (GDI). China has also proposed initiatives on international food security cooperation under the G20 framework and the eight proposals on establishing cooperative partnerships for commodities and safeguarding global food security.
China has also reached an important consensus on strengthening cooperation on food supply, access, utilization and stability with participating parties at the just-concluded 25th China-ASEAN summit meeting.
Mao said that China will continue to work with other countries for a shared future, advance the GDI, strengthen cooperation on food security and poverty reduction, and make greater contributions to accelerating the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and building a world free from hunger and poverty.
Global Times
China sells rice at auction
BEIJING: China sold 9,727 tonnes of rice, or 0.53% of the total offer, at an auction of its state reserves on March 22, the National Grain Trade Center said in a statement on Monday.
The average selling price of the rice was 2,644 yuan ($415.34) per tonne, according to the trade centre.
With maize prices soaring, export demand zooms for Indian broken rice as feed
Buyers in Vietnam, China and Indonesia switch to the foodgrain, but its rates rising sharply
With maize (corn) prices soaring on demand from West, South and South-East Asia, buyers abroad are switching over to 100 per cent broken rice for animal feed in countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and China.
“There is a huge demand for maize from Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia besides the Gulf. But prices have surged and availability is low since the new crop will arrive only after next month,” said Bimal Bengani, Managing Director of Kolkata-based Bengani Export Pvt Ltd.
“Shipments of maize have slowed down after prices soared due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Instead, buyers from Vietnam and Indonesia are now seeking broken rice,” said M Madan Prakash, President, Agri Commodities Exporters Association (ACEA).
China provides 2,000 tons of rice as emergency food aid to Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China decides to provide 2,000 tons of rice as emergency food aid to Sri Lanka, said the Chinese embassy here in a press release on Friday.
The donation, which was valued at about 2.5 million U.S. dollars (including freight cost), was made at the request of the Sri Lankan government upon its current difficulty of food shortage in the island country, according to the embassy.
As the continuously raging COVID-19 pandemic and the dramatically changing international situation have further worsened the global food shortage and shipping capacity, the technical teams from both countries will work closely to finalize the production and shipment arrangements, and deliver the aid to Sri Lanka at an early date, said the embassy.
Noting that this year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact, the Chinese embassy said the two countries have traditionally helped each other and shared weal and woe.
China will continue to support Sri Lanka's social and economic development within its capacity, the Chinese embassy added.
Pakistan Asks China to Enhance Rice Quota to 2 Million Tons
Pakistan has asked China to enhance the rice quota to two million tons. Sources told ProPakistani that Pakistan, during the tour of Prime Minister Imran Khan last month, asked China not only to support duty concessions but for quota enhancement in specific sectors including rice.
Pakistan has exported rice worth $2.1 million to China in the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2021-22 whereas it exported rice worth $2.29 million to China in the same period the previous year.
Sources said that Pakistan has also asked China to abolish the 4 percent duty on the export of cement.
Pakistan can get the duty-free concession of exporting cement to China after 3 years under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA-II). Sources further said that this will help offset part of the trade deficit which has surged to $32 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year.
They said that Pakistan has also asked China to expedite the process of mutual recognition agreements on agriculture and animal products.
Apart from this, Pakistan has also asked the tariff liberalization to be done by 10 and 20 years from seven to 15 years under CPFTA-II respectively.
Similarly, Pakistan has also asked China for an uninterrupted bilateral opening of the Khunjrab border for trade. Sources said that the Ministry of Commerce is waiting for the response of China on these proposals.
Scientists discover how to grow ‘seawater rice’, China plans to feed 8 crore people
Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of rice in a bid to ensure food security as sea levels rise from climate change.
Jinghai district in northern China is hardly a rice-growing paradise. Located along the coast of the Bohai Sea, over half of the region’s land is made of salty, alkaline soil where crops can’t survive. Yet, last autumn, Jinghai produced 100 hectares of rice.
The secret to the bountiful harvest is new salt-tolerant rice strains developed by Chinese scientists in the hope of ensuring food security that’s been threatened by rising sea levels, increasing grain demand and supply chain disruptions.
Known as “seawater rice" because it’s grown in salty soil near the sea, the strains were created by over-expressing a gene from selected wild rice that’s more resistant to saline and alkali. Test fields in Tianjin—the municipality that encompasses Jinghai—recorded a yield of 4.6 metric tons per acre last year, higher than the national average for production of standard rice varieties.
The breakthrough comes as China searches for ways to secure domestic food and energy supplies as global warming and geopolitical tensions make imports less reliable. The nation has one-fifth of the world’s population, and that many mouths to feed, with less than 10% of the Earth’s arable land. Meanwhile, grain consumption is rising quickly as the country grows more wealthy.
“Seeds are the ‘chips’ of agriculture," said Wan Jili, a manager at Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, drawing a parallel between the crucial role semiconductors play in the development of new technologies and their role in the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. Seawater rice could help improve China’s grain production in the face of an “extremely complicated situation regarding climate change and global food security," she said.
China has been studying salt-tolerant rice since at least the 1950s. But the term “seawater rice" only started to gain mainstream attention in recent years after the late Yuan Longping, once the nation’s top agricultural scientist, began researching the idea in 2012.
Yuan, known as the “father of hybrid rice," is considered a national hero for boosting grain harvests and saving millions from hunger thanks to his work on high-yielding hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s. In 2016, he selected six locations across the country with different soil conditions that were turned into testing fields for salt-tolerant rice. The following year, China established the research center in Qingdao where Wan works. The institute’s goal is to harvest 30 million tons of rice using 6.7 million hectares of barren land.
“We could feed 80 million more people" with salt-tolerant rice, Yuan said in a documentary broadcast in 2020. “Agricultural researchers like us should shoulder the responsibility to safeguard food security," he told a local newspaper in 2018.
Climate change has made the task more urgent. China’s coastal waters have risen faster than the global average over the last 40 years, a worrying trend given the country’s deep reliance on its long and low eastern coast for grain production. Successfully growing salt-tolerant rice on a large scale would allow the country to utilize more of the increasingly salty land in the area.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels around the world could rise as much as 59 centimeters by the end of the century if the planet warms by 2 degrees Celsius. Oceans surrounding the U.S. will swell faster within the next three decades than they did in the past century, according to a report this week led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
President Xi Jinping has stressed in several recent meetings with top government officials that ensuring the supply of primary goods is a “major strategic issue" given climate and geopolitical pressures. “The food of the Chinese people must be made by and remain in the hands of the Chinese," he said at a gathering of the Politburo Standing Committee meeting in December.
Chinese scientists are betting that land once dismissed as barren can be turned into productive grain-producing plots. About 100 million hectares of land in the country, about the size of Egypt, is high in saline and alkaline. Meanwhile arable land has decreased 6% from 2009 to 2019 because of urbanization, pollution and overuse of fertilizers.
To make use of salty soil, farmers traditionally dilute their fields with large amounts of fresh water. The approach is still commonly used in some coastal regions. But the method requires vast amounts of water and often doesn’t improve yields enough to make sense economically.
“China is looking at another method now, to develop grain varieties that can withstand the soil’s saltiness," said Zhang Zhaoxin, a researcher with China’s agricultural ministry. While seawater rice has mostly been planted on trial fields so far, Zhang said he believes commercial cultivation will soon take off with the government’s support.
The research team in Qingdao said last October that it can meet the goal of growing 6.7 million hectares of seawater rice within ten years. In 2021, the group was put in charge of 400,000 hectares of land to expand production of seawater rice.
“If China can be more self-sufficient in staple foods, it would be a contribution to the world's food security too," said Zhang. “The less China imports, the more other countries will have."
China issues 2022 minimum purchase prices for some rice products
The total volume of rice purchased at the minimum purchase price for 2022 will be limited to 50mln tonnes
BEIJING- China's state planner on Friday issued the minimum purchase prices for some rice products for 2022.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) set the minimum purchase prices for early indica, late indica and japonica rice at 124 yuan, 129 yuan and 131 yuan per 50kg respectively.
That works out at a minimum purchase price of 2,480 yuan ($392.14), 2,580 yuan and 2,620 yuan per tonne respectively. The prices are also higher than those set for 2021, signalling increasing support for production of the crop.
The total volume of rice purchased at the minimum purchase price for 2022 will be limited to 50 million tonnes, with 20 million tonnes for indica rice and 30 million tonnes for japonica rice, the NDRC said.
China had called for an increase in rice production at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic amid concerns over food security in the world's most populous country. A government working group said that regions with good growing conditions should restore double-cropping of rice and that planted acreage of early crop rice should be expanded.
($1 = 6.3243 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Emily Chow and Beijing newsroom Editing by David Goodman) ((emily.chow@thomsonreuters.com; +862120830020; Reuters Messaging: emily.chow.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Pakistan’s rice exports to China increased 133% in 2021
Pakistan’s export of rice to China (HS Code 1006) crossed $400 million in 2021, up 133 percent year on year, and in the first five months of the last year once Pakistan remained the largest rice supplier to China. China Economic Net (CEN) reported this on Tuesday quoting official data from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC).
Commercial Counselor of the Pakistan Embassy Beijing Badar uz Zaman previously said that in the next few years, his target is to achieve one million tons of rice. He desires that Pakistan will become the largest player in this market.
This year China imported about 973,000 tons of rice worth $437 million from Pakistan. The seven new Pakistan rice exporters have been added to the approved list which has risen to 53 last year, and China relaxed import restrictions on Pakistani rice which helped rice export to China.
Commercial Counselor Badar uz Zaman told CEN that Pakistan has become the third-largest exporter of rice to China, added that they are using traditional and especially social media platforms to provide awareness about Pakistani rice in this market.
“We are also in discussion with the Chinese government for the technology transfer of sea rice because huge saline land along the coastal districts can be used for rice cultivation.
The Chinese have been successful in their experiments to use the saline land and we can learn this from China,” Badar added. This year semi or wholly milled rice (Commodity Code 10063020) crossed about $249 millio, increased 85% as compared to last year, which followed by broken rice (Commodity Code 10064020) reached $125 million, up 201% year on year. Badar further said that the number of Pakistani restaurants isincreasing in China that helped Pakistani Basmati rice improve exports here, and Middle Eastern restaurants like Lebanese and Turkish restaurants also use Basmati rice. Previously there was no presence of Basmati rice because Chinese normally like the other varieties of rice, but now the Chinesebuying power is being increased, and the tendency to use expensive products and special aromatic basmati rice will create a pull from the Chinese market.
Miss Xie working as a manager in a Pakistani restaurant is amazed that more Chinese customers are coming to eat Basmati rice because it’s different from Chinese rice and it has a special fragrance. The grains remain separate after cooking.
Asif Jalil, owner of Little Lahore a famous restaurant in China told CEN that Thai Jasmine rice is very popular here because they created the demand in the Chinese market and now, they are capturing & enjoying the market, he added Pakistan still needs to work hard to grab the whole market because the Chinese market is too big.
“The quantity of Pakistani rice exported to China, at this moment does not represent the demand from the local consumers. It only tells that we let some of the consumers try Pakistani rice.
When this export grows over a certain period, then basically, we will be able to see the number of returning consumers to rightly quantify the growth in demand for Pakistani rice,” he added.
Pakistani rice exporters expressed that the shipping cost is too high due to COVID-19 and the price of rice in the domestic market goes up while the end-users are still buying on old rates. If they get subsidies or some incentives from the Chinese side, that would help increase much more exports of Pakistani rice to China.
They also said that 1121 Basmati Rice has very high quality in Pakistan but the price of this type of rice is the same as Indian traders are getting in the Chinese market, while quality has a huge difference, adding that the Pakistani government needs much more effort to increase further exports of rice because China is a very big market.
They also mentioned that right now IRRI-6, IRRI-9, semi or wholly milled rice and broken rice are the main varieties of rice that are exported to China while Basmati and other top varieties still need to work hard to capture the Chinese market.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research (NFSR) Fakhar Imam said that last year Pakistan has the best rice production of around 9 million tons, which has helped Pakistan earn $4.75 billion from rice exports, and he expected that 2022 will break all record of rice production and exports. It is also worth mentioning that the latest color sorter machines (technology) and seeds given by China to Pakistan to facilitate the sowing and improvement of rice grains helped increase rice exports to China and also around the world.
Chinese help sought for rice industry
Beijing allowed imports from 7 more rice units, taking total number of firms to 53
ISLAMABAD:
The future is bright for Pakistan’s rice sector with China being one of the major markets for the country, noted Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan Senior Vice President Faisal Jahangir Malik.
In an interview, he said that Pakistan is an agricultural country where rice is cultivated on a large scale.
Speaking on how Pakistan’s rice could make its way into the Chinese market, he said that the first step was to secure approval for export.
China has allowed seven Pakistani rice units to export rice to Beijing this July after they met the international food safety and security standards.
This takes the number of total companies having the approval to export rice to China to 53 and it is expected to increase Pakistan’s rice exports and help local exporters penetrate the market of the neighbouring nation.
As per Malik, his experience of business with China was excellent. “We did not face any issue with payment or securing orders,” he said.
China should approve more Pakistani companies for export, said Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President Shamsul Islam Khan.
He was of the view that Pakistani exporters should be listed in the Chinese import quarantine as much as possible for healthier competition.
On top of gaining approval for exports, Pakistani traders are also trying to renew the industry through cooperation with Chinese counterparts. Building brands would be a good choice in this regard.
“The income of the middle class in China has increased tremendously in the last 30 years,” said Khan. “The country tries everything new including foreign textiles, garments and cars and now Beijing is trying new foods from abroad.”
He stressed upon Pakistani firms to promote local brands in China to attract customers. He was of the opinion that in future the demand for Pakistani food in China would increase.
Besides this, Chinese farming equipment, fertiliser and cultivation can prove vital in boosting agricultural yield.
“China has efficiently jumped in the international market by making quality and standard machines,” Khan mentioned, adding that Pakistan imports colour sorter machines from the neighbouring country because they are attractive in price and quality.
“Our capacity is low and China is a huge market,” Khan added. “Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, both nations are cooperating in many fields including agriculture; we are looking to enhance the collaboration.”
Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku Director Muhammad Rafiq highlighted the importance of cooperation in scientific research.
“A large portion of our land is facing salinity and China is working on the issue,” he said. “It would be appreciable if China exchanges material and collaborate with Pakistan.”
He added that Pakistanis are still practicing breeding schemes using old traditional methods and lamented that the country is yet to adopt genetic engineering aid.
“To meet the food standards of China, we have to make strenuous efforts,” said Galaxy Rice Mills Project Manager Imran Sheikh. “If we succeed, it will present a huge opportunity to us and our exports can be increased manifold.”
The company is among the seven Pakistani firms that attained approval to export rice to China in July.
ISLAMABAD:
The future is bright for Pakistan’s rice sector with China being one of the major markets for the country, noted Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan Senior Vice President Faisal Jahangir Malik.
In an interview, he said that Pakistan is an agricultural country where rice is cultivated on a large scale.
Speaking on how Pakistan’s rice could make its way into the Chinese market, he said that the first step was to secure approval for export.
China has allowed seven Pakistani rice units to export rice to Beijing this July after they met the international food safety and security standards.
This takes the number of total companies having the approval to export rice to China to 53 and it is expected to increase Pakistan’s rice exports and help local exporters penetrate the market of the neighbouring nation.
As per Malik, his experience of business with China was excellent. “We did not face any issue with payment or securing orders,” he said.
China should approve more Pakistani companies for export, said Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President Shamsul Islam Khan.
He was of the view that Pakistani exporters should be listed in the Chinese import quarantine as much as possible for healthier competition.
On top of gaining approval for exports, Pakistani traders are also trying to renew the industry through cooperation with Chinese counterparts. Building brands would be a good choice in this regard.
“The income of the middle class in China has increased tremendously in the last 30 years,” said Khan. “The country tries everything new including foreign textiles, garments and cars and now Beijing is trying new foods from abroad.”
He stressed upon Pakistani firms to promote local brands in China to attract customers. He was of the opinion that in future the demand for Pakistani food in China would increase.
Besides this, Chinese farming equipment, fertiliser and cultivation can prove vital in boosting agricultural yield.
“China has efficiently jumped in the international market by making quality and standard machines,” Khan mentioned, adding that Pakistan imports colour sorter machines from the neighbouring country because they are attractive in price and quality.
“Our capacity is low and China is a huge market,” Khan added. “Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, both nations are cooperating in many fields including agriculture; we are looking to enhance the collaboration.”
Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku Director Muhammad Rafiq highlighted the importance of cooperation in scientific research.
“A large portion of our land is facing salinity and China is working on the issue,” he said. “It would be appreciable if China exchanges material and collaborate with Pakistan.”
He added that Pakistanis are still practicing breeding schemes using old traditional methods and lamented that the country is yet to adopt genetic engineering aid.
“To meet the food standards of China, we have to make strenuous efforts,” said Galaxy Rice Mills Project Manager Imran Sheikh. “If we succeed, it will present a huge opportunity to us and our exports can be increased manifold.”
The company is among the seven Pakistani firms that attained approval to export rice to China in July.NRT Focus: Chinese Demand Safe Rice
Food safety is becoming a serious problem in China as the country's pollution worsens year by year. Now the urban middle class is taking a closer look at what they put in their rice bowls.
Illegal Chinese rice purchases continue: ministry
Trucks carrying commodities and rice to China on the Muse-Mandalay road.
Chinese companies or individual traders are forbidden from buying rice stocks in Myanmar and will be prosecuted if they are caught, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Chinese merchants are going directly to areas where rice is abundant, such as Yangon, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions, according to chairman of Myanmar Rice Federation Chit Khine. He said it was an increasingly serious issue and needed to be addressed.
Assistant secretary of the ministry Khin Maung Lwin said: “If there is illegal trading by foreigners, action will be taken. There is no law in Myanmar permitting foreigners to buy rice. It is violating the law. The details for taking action must be discussed with various departments."
It was the responsibility of the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs to investigate domestic affairs and take action, he continued.
“We don’t permit foreign individual traders or companies to do rice trading domestically. We need a detailed investigation of where and when the illegal rice trading takes place,” he added.
An unnamed rice merchant from Mandalay said: “If our government cannot prevent the Chinese entering Myanmar and trading rice illegally, they must consider another option for Myanmar's rice merchants. Maybe we should be allowed to trade rice in China without being arrested."
Overland rice trading is disrupted by many Chinese seizures and inspections, traders say.
China Focus: High-quality rice yields hope for Chinese farmers
As spring plowing comes to an end in China, Wei Shilian is expecting a good harvest.
A resident of Xingan County, a big rice production area in east China's Jiangxi Province, Wei planted more than 140 hectares of paddy rice this year, 90 percent of which is high-quality rice. Jiangxi is one of China's 13 major grain production bases.
"Market demand is changing, and it's hard to make money by growing regular rice these days," Wei said.
Chinese farmers traditionally pursue quantity over quality when it comes to grain. But as incomes improve, consumers have become more demanding about quality. Meanwhile, prices of imported rice remain low, challenging China's cheap mid- and low-quality rice.
The central government announced in February that high-quality paddy rice should be a priority in agricultural production this year. Compared to regular paddy rice, high-quality rice is brighter in color and better in texture, and some types have a distinctive aroma.
Under these circumstances, government authorities with several big rice production bases have recently announced plans to cultivate a high volume of high-quality rice.
Hunan province, for example, plans to produce about 666,667 hectares of high-quality rice this year, while Chongqing hopes to produce 300,000 hectares of such rice. Sichuan plans to extend its high-quality rice area to more than 1 million hectares this year.
QUALITY VS. QUANTITY
Ling Jihe is a renowned rice grower in Jiangxi Province. He opened a "High-quality Rice Experience Store" at the end of last year.
"Rice demand is changing in the market," Ling said. "In the past, people cared more about eating sufficient food, but now they care more about eating great food."
In his store, high-quality rice sells for 3 yuan (43.5 cents) per kilo, much higher than regular rice in the market, but the product is still "very popular." According to Ling, revenue from high-quality rice in the store reached a staggering 180,000 yuan in less than 20 days.
Xiong Xijian, who owns a rice processing factory in Jiangxi, said that the amount of regular rice sold to the southern Guangdong Province decreased by 60 percent compared to three years ago, while that of high-quality rice is increasing at an annual rate of 15 percent.
"There is basically no profit in growing regular rice, so you have to adjust the structure of your crops," said Yi Zhanghai, a farmer in Jiangxi's Jishui County.
Li Changsheng, an official in charge of agriculture in Jishui, said that agricultural reform is about placing more emphasis on quality over quantity.
"We will churn out about 10,000 hectares of high-quality rice this year, or about a quarter of all rice cultivation in the county," Li said.
In Jiangxi's Nanchang County, one of China's top 100 "Super Food Production Bases," farmer Luo Fuyu has switched from regular rice to a high-quality rice breed called "926," which has a lower yield but can fetch much higher prices in the market. One mu (one hectare equals 15 mu) of the rice breed can guarantee at least 300 yuan more than one mu of regular rice, he said.
"We will definitely pay more attention to rice quality than quantity in the future," Luo said.
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