China-Pakistan Desert Horticulture Cooperation: A Green Breakthrough for Arid Land Development

BEIJING, Jun 20 (APP): The newly launched China-Pakistan desert horticulture cooperation marks a pragmatic milestone in bilateral agricultural collaboration, unlocking transformative development potential for Pakistan’s vast arid lands.

The inauguration of Pakistan’s first Joint Laboratory for Desert Agriculture and Science and Technology Backyard for Desert Horticulture has built a solid technical platform that integrates China’s mature desert farming technologies with Pakistan’s underdeveloped desert land resources.

This was stated by Prof Cheng Xizhong, Senior Research Fellow at the Charhar Institute, a non-governmental Chinese think-tank on diplomacy and international studies based in Beijing.

 Pakistan’s agricultural industry has long been plagued by severe water shortages, low land utilization rates and backward arid farming modes, with nearly 15 percent of its total land area consisting of uncultivated desert. This bilateral cooperation initiative targets these fundamental bottlenecks directly.

Adopting well-verified technologies developed and tested by Tarim University (TARU) in Xinjiang, the project introduces solar-powered greenhouses, precision agricultural systems, drone-enabled crop monitoring and water-saving drip irrigation technologies, he said in a statement.

 Prof Cheng said that the low-cost, high-efficiency solar greenhouse technology stands out as a core highlight of the project. It tackles the long-standing operational inefficiencies of conventional greenhouses and boosts land productivity by up to 35 percent. Featuring a modular structure, the greenhouse can be assembled rapidly while ensuring excellent daylight transmission and heat insulation. The supporting water-curtain floor heating system absorbs solar energy in the daytime and releases stored heat at night to stabilize the internal microclimate, increase nighttime temperatures and drastically reduce overall energy consumption.

 Fully compatible with Pakistan’s Green Pakistan Initiative, this project promotes sustainable land restoration, drought-resistant crop planting and modern rural economic development. Located in Multan, a pivotal agricultural node along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the project will help consolidate Pakistan’s national food security, drive the growth of local supporting industries and improve the income and living standards of rural residents, he added.

 Beyond bilateral economic and agricultural benefits, this cooperation model can be replicated for arid land modernization across Central Asia and the Middle East. It fully demonstrates the mutually beneficial and people-oriented essence of China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. The joint efforts turn barren deserts into fertile farmland, and inject long-term green development momentum into regional economic cooperation frameworks, he said.