BEIJING: Pakistan’s export of sesamum seeds to China achieved a historical figure of $120.44 million in 2021.

China imported 92,516.55 tonnes in 2021 and was one of the main destinations for sesamum seeds exports from Pakistan, while in 2020 it was only 38,000 kilograms, according to the official data from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China.

Niger exported the largest 297,255 tonnes of sesamum seeds to China, followed by Togo and Sudan in terms of volume and value.

Pakistan ranked sixth in terms of volume with 3.3 per cent of total exports to China last year.

According to the China Economic Net, Pakistan’s export to China went up by 68.9 per cent in 2021.

Commercial Counsellor of Pakistan in China Badar Uz Zaman said that normally there is a trend of cultivating traditional crops like wheat and rice, but now the Pakistani farmers are also getting knowledge of the high-end and high-priced products like sesamum seed.

Islamabad is collaborating with Beijing in the agriculture sector

He expressed the hope that Pakistan was going to be the top exporter of sesamum seeds to China in coming years.

“After the signing of the phase-2 of China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement, we got access to sesamum seeds in the Chinese market. Our exporters are very active. Many new exporters have been added to the General Administration of Customs of China list that increased the scale, but still, we have a big potential and the Pakistani farmers also understand the varieties and the types of the sesame seed that is popular in China,” Mr Zaman said.

He said that Pakistan is collaborating in the agriculture sector with China. There have been specialists from China who are also guiding the Pakistani farmers on how to grow this crop. Similarly, many agriculture machinery suppliers, he said, are also providing high-end technical machines like sorting machines to the Pakistani processors of sesamum seeds and the packaging has also improved.

Rakesh Pal Khamuani from Kanwal Trading Company Private Limited (Pakistan) said that sesame seeds have been a very important trade recently in Pakistan. On average, Pakistan produces 100,000 tonnes of sesame seeds from which 85pc is exported and the rest is used in the local areas during the winter for bakery and sweets.

He said that two bordering countries with over 70 years of relationship, unfortunately, do not have sesame seeds trade. Pakistan should be the first priority for China to import sesame seeds because of the quick transit time, he added.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2022