Daily Times

Pakistan looks forwards to China-Pak joint scientific research for the building of Green China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque made the remarks when met Huang Wenjiang, a Research Fellow of the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) here at the Embassy of Pakistan. According to China Economic Net (CEN) on Friday, Huang’s team recently released the latest Report of Monitoring and Assessment of Desert Locust in Africa and Asia.

As per the estimate of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), up to 40 percent of global crop production is lost to pests annually. Each year, plant diseases cost the global economy over $220 billion, and invasive insects at least $70 billion.

Among the invasive insects, desert locust and fall armyworm are the main reasons for the grain reduction and environmental deterioration in Pakistan.

To fight the invasive species and safeguard food security, Huang’s team has also released a series of reports of Monitoring and Assessment of Desert Locust specially for Pakistan since 2020. Huang briefed the Pakistani envoy on how China-Pak scientists cooperate in the prevention and control of locusts by the use of remote sensing system for plant pests and disease monitoring and forecasting.

Huang also presented fruitful results and good prospects of China-Pakistan cooperation in food security and biodiversity monitoring with the help of the Global Crop Pest Monitoring and Risk Forecasting system, which was developed by Huang’s team.

The Pakistani envoy said these are very important to the two nations’ agriculture and Pakistan’s need. He hoped to have further communication on the high-quality building of Green CPEC.