Daily Times

The production of high-yielding hybrid rice has received a boost in Pakistan from the startup of modern colour sorter machines and seeds given by China to Pakistan to facilitate the sowing of this grain.

Michael Guo, sales manager of Hefei Meyer optoelectronic technology international, said that they started selling the colour sorter to the Pakistan market in 2008, it’s very hard to promote the Chinese Brand at the very beginning, as many people prefer to buy European and Japanese Brand.

He said that in the first five years they only sold not more than 50 machines, but after 2013 rice mills owners have experienced the Chinese Brand, saying it’s not only cheap but also has good quality and stability.

“Up to now, Meyer has sold more than 600 colour sorter machines in the Pakistani market with a share of 40pc. Most rice exporters are using Meyer colour sorter machines, and they are very satisfied with it. Meyer colour sorter provides the greatest guarantee of food security for all over the world”, he told China Economic Net.

According to the General Customs Administration of China, data about Pakistan sales of colour sorter machines increased over the past four years, and the next three years are an estimate as per previous experience.

“Meyer colour sorter machines can meet all of the customers’ requirements, whatever kinds of rice, such as Basmati rice, brown rice, parboiled rice, steam rice and it can remove the light yellow/dark yellow, pin-points, chalky, even it can remove the foreign materials like glass, plastic, stones, etc”, he stated.

Guo said they have an authorised agent and professional service team in Pakistan providing the local service within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the machine can be connected with WIFI. They have remote services and users can check problems on computers from China.

“Meyer will try the best to provide better technology to serve more and more enterprises and escort the local food security”, he added.

Shamsul Islam Khan, vice president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said that there are three tiers in China to ensure the safety of the market. China should increase Pakistan’s quota of rice and give it more market access to reduce the trade deficit gap between the two countries.

“We imported hybrid rice seeds, especially IRRI-6, IRRI-9 from China, and the advantage of hybrid rice is that it can be grown anywhere. Secondly, where the production of Basmati rice was low, the production of hybrid rice is more than double”, he specified.

He further said that China has advanced technology in the agriculture field, and both countries should work together to increase basmati rice production and should set up research centers in SEZs to upsurge basmati rice cultivation.

Pakistan produced 7.72 million tons of rice that needs to cultivate more and to get that outcome we need to improve technology, seed, and irrigation system. We should immediately adopt the sprinkler and drip irrigation system” he mentioned.

“The exporters should set up small rice stalls in big malls, exhibition centers, and public places in China, where they serve people Pakistani basmati rice for free taste which would help capture the world’s largest market”, he said.

Asif Jalil, the owner, and operator of Romma restaurants Hubei and Little Lahore a famous Pakistani restaurant in Beijing said that Pakistani rice dishes such as Pulao and Biryani are getting more popular amongst the Chinese customers and Basmati rice is used for cooking the above dishes.

“Basmati is a long-grain rice variety originally from Pakistan and it’s particularly famous for its aromatic flavour. Chicken and lamb biryani (spicy) or mandi (mild) both are loved by our customers. Basmati rice has less starch so it’s not so sticky and tastes quite different from the short-grain rice varieties”, he added.