Scientists from Pakistan and China are working on different kinds of plants to be adaptive to the local conditions in order to make the sandy land of?Gwadar, the shining pearl of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor?(CPEC), green.
So far, nearly 100,000 seedlings of bananas, dates, orchids, and figs have been cultivated there under the Belt and Road Engineering Research Center for Tropical Arid Non-wood Forest, which was jointly launched by Central South University of Forestry and Technology, China Overseas Ports Holding Company Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd and Yulin Holdings in 2018.
Currently, more Sino-Pak cooperation is being carried out under the research center in Gwadar in which Pakistani universities like the Indus University, the University of Karachi (KU), and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad also participated.
Assistant Professor Dr. Muhammad Yousaf Adnan of KUs Botany Department said that researchers from China and Pakistan are working to turn the barren lands and drought areas, especially Gwadar and other coastal areas into green lands.
In this way, we can combat the effects of global warming and climate change. Now a very magnificent and well-developed laboratory has been developed in Gwadar, and tissue culture laboratory experiments have been conducted there. We are cultivating such varieties there which fulfill the drought environment, Dr. Muhammad Yousaf said.
Most of the local people in the coastal areas have no proper source of income. When I went to Gwadar last year for an exchange event, I saw with my own eyes that local people were buying seedlings and plants that were prepared in the tissue culture lab, and they were planting them in their area. The local people were taking big benefit from it, he said, further expressing confidence, I am 100% hopeful that the cooperation will give many benefits to the economy of Pakistan and China, particularly the Pakistani economy. If we are successful in this purpose, Gwadar will be a model of how we can green an area under environmental stress.
Meanwhile, Associate Professor Dr. Irfan Ahmed of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad remarked, We should plant such plants in Gwadar or our tropical arid environment, which will not only provide shade, oxygen, carbon dioxide regulation, and environmental benefits but we will also be able to earn through them. We should also observe the benefits of our local communities and farming communities.
In addition to joint research, personnel exchange also plays an important part of cooperation. Through the student exchange program, Chinese teachers and students will come to Indus University, and they will understand the environment, agriculture, and culture here. In the same way, Pakistani students and teachers will also go to China and they will benefit from this university, according to Indus University President Khalid Amin Sheikh.