ISLAMABAD, July 15: Secretary Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) M. Ismail Qureshi has expressed his hope that Pakistani and Chinese scientists will soon be able to produce rice hybrid on which they are already working. Mr Qureshi was talking to a delegation of Chinese agricultural scientists here. The Chinese team headed by Wang Wanfu, vice dean, Hunaggang Municipal Agricultural Science and Technology Institute, Hubei province, China, is currently visiting Pakistan under 16th protocol of cooperation between Pakistan and China in the field of science and technology.

The other members of the delegation include Yu Guangnan, Dr Chuanven Li and Dr Li Jianhong.

Mr Qureshi also asked the Chinese experts to help assist in controlling fruit-fly pest in mango and guava orchards.

He said Pakistan and China enjoyed very close cooperation in all fields of science and technology and scientists of both countries were equally engaged in agricultural research for enhanced productivity of food items.

While exchanging views on Sino-Pakistan relations, the Minfal secretary said joint collaboration in agriculture research, especially for hybrid cotton, hybrid rice and integrated pest management (IPM) were very encouraging which would make a positive impact on agricultural development.

The secretary underlined the need for follow-up visits of delegations between the two countries.

Earlier, Wang Wanfu, leader of the delegation, said they were impressed by the state-of-the-art facilities available at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, and other institutions in Pakistan.

He said delegation members were able to visit various institutions in Islamabad, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad where they had the opportunity to interact with prominent scientists and experts in the field of agriculture research and were really inspired by the efforts and achievements.

Wang Wanfu, however, maintained that since China could be a big market for mango and rice therefore focus should be on quality production, especially in high yielding basmati varieties of rice.