Pak-China MoU inked to empower flaxseed research.

BEIJING -- The Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Sindh Agricultural University signed a memorandum of understanding for the China-Pakistan flax research and innovation hub.

"Our new flax varieties, the Longya series, are all selected according to the climate conditions of dry with little rainfall in Northwest China. In the planting experiments, the yield is generally more than 10 percent higher than that of the local varieties, and the resistance to diseases and insect pests is stronger. At present, Longya No. 11, No. 14, and No. 15 have been planted in Pakistan preliminarily. I firmly believe that the Longya series should be able to exert a good effect of drought resistance and increase yield under the climate conditions of Pakistan,"AZhao Wei, Researcher at the Crop Research Institute of GAAS, indicated in an interview with China Economic Net.

"It is a variety most Pakistani farmers are not familiar with but it can produce edible oil much needed in the country", project leader Abdul Ghaffar Shar, a doctoral candidate of Northwest A and F University who has been studying in China for nine years told CEN, adding, "Experiment has started at SAU, Tandojam. Flaxseed contains 35-44 percent oil. The seed oil, rich in unsaturated fatty acids mainly linolenic acid, serves as a nutritional supplement, in addition to its huge role in coatings, textiles and animal husbandry. Flax is a promising economic crop."

As Abdul Ghaffar Shar pointed out, the average production of flaxseed in Pakistan is as low as 692 kg per hectare because of less soil fertility, blind use of fertilizers, lack of high-yield hybrid varieties and old cultivation practices.

Looking into the importance of edible oil and low yield of oil crops in Pakistan, it is vital to focus on the short- and long-term studies on imported potential hybrid flaxseed varieties suitable for cultivation under the soil and climatic conditions of Pakistan.

"Our experiment will be conducted in the greenhouse of the Department of Soil Science, SAU Tandojam to evaluate Chinese flaxseed hybrids for better growth, grain, and oil yield under different fertilizer doses," Shar added.

Furthermore, Zhao Wei emphasized the current planting area of the Longya series accounts for about 1/3 of the flax area in China...

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