New Phase Of Seed Cooperation Is Crucial To Address Food Security: PM

In order to address the challenge of food security in the future, the new phase of seed cooperation between Pakistan and China is crucial, according to a Pakistani minister.

New Phase Of Seed Cooperation Is Crucial To Address Food Security: PM

In order to address the challenge of food security in the future, the new phase of seed cooperation between Pakistan and China is crucial, according to a Pakistani minister. To mutate their genes, China assisted Pakistan in sending seven herbal seeds to the Chinese space station for space breeding.

An event was held to commemorate the herbal seeds’ successful return in this regard. Pakistan’s Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, stated that the South Asian nation desperately needs seed cooperation to address climate change challenges on the sidelines of the “Celebration of the Return of Pakistani Seeds from the Chinese Space Station.”

Trigonella Foenum-Graecum (Methi), Lawsonia Inermis (Mehndi), Moringa Olefera (Sohanjna), Withania Somnifera (Ashwagandha), Tribulus Terrestris (Gokhroo), Gossypium Arboretum (Mughal Punta Dana), and Caesalpinia Bonducella (Kuranjwa) are among the crops that travel to space and spent six months there in a unique environment made up of microgravity and cosmic rays.

The space mutagenesis for crop improvement project is an incredible piece of research that will not only open up a tons of doors for future study on other planets but also make it easier to grow plants in adverse weather like drought and floods brought on by global warming.

This project marks an important turning point in the development of Pakistani medicinal plants, drug discovery, and clinical trials, as the cultivation of medicinal plants is still in its infancy in that country.

Minister told Xinhua, “Pakistan is very vulnerable to climate change, which is why we need smart agriculture. For that, we need new varieties of seeds that are resistant to the new weather challenges and more appropriate to the risks of climate change.

Chinese Ningbo University chief scientist Liu Xinming claimed that on April 12 of last year, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs transferred the seeds to the China Manned Space Agency .

According to Liu, the herbal seeds were launched into space aboard the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft on June 5, 2022, and after six months in orbit, they were brought back to Earth by the Shenzhou-14 astronaut crew on December 4, 2017.

Atia-tul-Wahab, a professor at the University of Karachi‘s International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, claimed that her organisation suggested the government send the seeds of the herbs into space. “We kept the same number of grains in our laboratory and sent the same number to space. Now that they have returned, we will carefully inspect them and perform their tests in our lab. The two seed varieties will then be planted separately to compare the results later on “she spoke to Xinhua.

Wahab noted that this was Pakistan’s first time sending seeds into space and that it was a significant accomplishment for the nation. She also mentioned that her lab is considering sending staple foods like rice, wheat, and pulses into space for additional research.

The professor told Xinhua that the herbs that were sent to space are used in conventional Pakistani medicine, and that it is hoped that space breeding will allow researchers at her institute to create drugs for fatal diseases.

The experiment, according to Pang Chunxue, charge d’affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, will undoubtedly go down in the annals of friendship between China and Pakistan as a turning point in the two nations’ cooperation in science and technology.

She claimed that China’s international cooperation in science and technology is an open, shared, and inclusive partnership that insists on conducting space exploration cooperation on the principles of equality, mutual benefit, peaceful use, and inclusive development. The Chinese diplomat continued, “All nations are welcome to actively join China in space exploration.”