Pakistani and Chinese authorities have inaugurated Sino-Pak Hybrid Rice Research Center in Hangzhou, China

Pakistani and Chinese authorities have recently inaugurated SINO-Pak Hybrid Rice Research Center (SPHRRC) in Hangzhou – China for having quality research and development on different kinds of crossbreed rice.

Senior professor of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi on Thursday said that Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, former chairman higher education commission and federal minister for science and technology, and Dr. Peisong Hu, Deputy Director General China National Rice Research Institute (CNNRI), inaugurated this ‘modern rice research center’ on the 30th October, 2018. The official said that ICCBS Director Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary and Ms. Lu Yexin, Director – Division of Asian, Americans and Multilateral Affairs, Department of International Cooperation also attended the inauguration ceremony.

Prof. Iqbal Choudhary pointed out that the rice research center had been established at the China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou – China in collaboration with ICCBS, University of Karachi.

It is pertinent to mention here that according to the bilateral agreement between the two countries a center was planned to be established with two branches, one in Pakistan and one in China. It is also worth mentioning here that the branch of the SPHRRC in Pakistan has already been opened at the ICCBS, University of Karachi last year.
The ICCBS official said that the center was the first hybrid rice research center of Pakistan established in collaboration with Chinese National Rice Research Center (CNNRI) Hangzhou – China with the objectives that CNRRI will provide suitable numbers of hybrid rice seeds varieties for testing at different locations in Sindh, and other climatic zones of Pakistan during the next two years to Pakistan. The center will also facilitate the field trials process of these verities of hybrid rice in Pakistan and train young Pakistani researchers in the field of agriculture so that they can effectively utilize the modern agriculture techniques to improve their local rice verities, he added.