Symposium on Sino-Pak Bio-health Agriculture Demonstration Park held

The 4th International Symposium on the Belt and Road Bio-health Agriculture and the Development of Sino-Pak Bio-health Agriculture Oversea Sci-tech Demonstration Park was held at Northwest A&F University (NWAFU), China and online from Nov. 13 to 17.

At the symposium, 22 keynote reports were delivered on bio-immunity and bio-protein technology, healthy seed industry, bio-information technology, smart agriculture technology and healthy animal husbandry.

The latest developments of the Sino-Pak Bio-health Agriculture Oversea Sci-tech Demonstration Park were introduced.

According to Mr. Bao Dai, Vice General Manager, Pakistan Subsidiary Co., Ltd, China, Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), the joint demonstration park will be constructed in three phases.

In the first phase, a demonstration area will be established to plant crops with low input and high value addition. In the second phase, more will be invested in high-tech agricultural products. Joint efforts will also be made in talent training and agricultural laboratory establishment. The third phase will focus on agricultural macro monitoring management and big data.

“Biohealth Agriculture” (BHA) was put forward by NWAFU Professor Zhang Lixin in 2017 at the first International Symposium on the Belt and Road Bio-health. It refers to the use of biological means for safe and quality agricultural production, involving the sustainability of the health of soil, plants, animals, humans, and ecosystems by lessening or excluding external agricultural inputs, especially pesticides and synthetic chemical fertilizers or other hazardous/toxic chemicals.

At the University of Lahore, field trials are underway and the application of nano biochar has proved effective in improving the yield of Okra, gourd, and eggplant. Youth are being trained in collaboration with the Government of Pakistan under the Kamyab Jawan Project.

Research is also carried out on promoting vegetable production through bio-healthy agriculture, physiological perspectives of salt tolerance in wheat, impacts of biofertilizers on salt stress tolerance and maize, bio-health nano fertilizers adoption and applications for sustainable and climate-resilient farming in Pakistan, production of bioactive oligosaccharides from cress seed mucilage through microbial bioprocessing, etc.

By sharing new technologies and crop varieties, the project aims to modernize Pakistan’s agriculture, increase productivity, and lift more people out of poverty.

The symposium was also attended by scholars from the United States, Canada, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Rwanda, etc.

During the 5-day event, participants visited the science & technology park of local enterprises and held exchange meetings in Yangling Demonstration Zone.