Yunnan strengthens pest control management strategies with Pakistan

China and Pakistan have joined hands to prevent and control plant disease and insect pests reported by the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS)

The most important factor in the agriculture sector is to ascertain integrated pest control management. Integrated pest management involves dynamic and technologically advanced approaches to combat plant diseases and insect pests ensuring the crop survives the season. By enhancing IPM through recent developments and foreign investment in the agriculture sector, crop care can be effectively done in a robust manner without utilizing harmful pesticides as well as preventing pests efficiently with a tailored strategy.

Integrated pest management (IPM) employs a variety of pesticides to guarantee that crops are well-cared for and protected against pests. When other methods fail, integrated pest management employs a variety of measures, including habitat manipulation, biological controls, cultural changes, and the use of environmentally safe insecticides. pest control management strategies should be environmentally friendly, pose little or no damage to people, and even encourage beneficial insects.

Pakistan's agricultural production, administration, and management systems have evolved at an exponential rate, resulting in a wide range of crop yield variations.

In times of need, China has always stood by Pakistan. Last year when locusts had attacked crops in Pakistan destroying up to 40% of the crops, China rapidly responded to the situation and transported a batch of locus control materials to Pakistan comprising 50,000 liters of pesticides and 15 high-powered spraying equipment according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

In addition, He mentioned China and Pakistan have a good tradition of mutual assistance", Furthermore, China had further stated to provide more assistance, personnel training, technological safety precautions, and their valuable and proactive experience to help us in establishing effective pest control management systems to deal with pests and their disasters.

What potential damage pests can cause to crops in Pakistan?

Pests, particularly stripe rust, have always posed a serious threat to crops, causing massive damage. Stripe rust is a disease that has been prevalent in Pakistan for a long time. The agricultural sector has been severely harmed by rust.

Rusts have the potential capacity to develop into epidemics. Wheat is Pakistan's alimentary crop It accounts for 60% of the average Pakistani's daily calorie intake. Farmers of wheat crop in Pakistan encounter many complicated challenges such as

• The scarcity of water, which considerably affect wheat productivity.
• Stripe rust epidemic.

 

Why is Yunnan cooperating with Pakistan in the fight against pests?

Yunnan and Pakistan share major similarities in terms of crops and geographical location. To precisely state, Pakistan and Yunnan Sheng are at a distance of 3076 km, as a result, many invasive pests enter China through Yunnan.

Yunnan and China can monitor the migration of fall armyworms and desert locusts through Pakistan. Moreover, Yunnan and Pakistan witness identical challenges such as climate, stripe rust, drought, and high temperature. Consequently, both countries can benefit from wheat variety resources and technologies directly.

Joint research on improving wheat production and combating stripe rust has also been an area of focus. According To the China Economic Net, academic work to boost wheat production named ‘Wheat Stripe Rust in the Middle East and the Extended Himalayan Region’ by Li Mingju, YAAS Research Fellow, and Pakistani scientist Dr. Sajid Ali is soon to be published. Furthermore, another academic work on a joint agriculture pest control management system with Pakistan for monitoring, early warning, and curbing major migratory pests.

Yunnan has been cooperating with Pakistan to detect pest control management migration routes, habitat, and growth patterns of pests. This act is facilitating both countries in matters of technical support for pest prevention. In addition, the exchange of agricultural specialists has been strengthened between both countries.

An official statement by the Head of YAAS International Cooperation Division Luo Yanjie states,

“For instance, Dr. Muhammad Ashfaque from Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) successfully completed his research on rice planthopper in Pakistan and Yunnan when he was at YAAS,” Luo said. “After returning to Pakistan, he has been keeping in close touch with us on agricultural pest control management, effectively promoting Sino-Pak cooperation in this area,”