Pak-China step up cooperation on cotton research under climate change

As global climate change intensifies, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSDC) and the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) will work together to study changes in climate characteristics and corresponding changes in cotton and wheat varieties. Proposes climate change over the next 30-50 years, creating models and providing breeding in.

This is a message conveyed by Ms. Zhang Rui, Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences on the International Training Workshop on Climate Smart Water Fertilizer Intelligent System for Cotton and Wheat organized by the MNS University of Agriculture, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

The model is evolved under the APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) smart regulation and decision-making system, that can simulate the biophysical procedure in farming system under the climatic risk, describe crop structure, crop sequence, yield prediction, and best quality control in addition to erosion estimation under extraordinary planting pattern, and are expecting the future design course of wheat and cotton types and water, fertilizer and salt control measures.

“Compared with traditional breeding, the use of genetic engineering methods can produce crop varieties that adapt to different types of environmental conditions more quickly”, she said.

Pakistan stands 5th in cotton production among the 60 major cotton-producing countries of the world and occupies the 3rd position in consumption. The cotton industry in Pakistan, with the longest value chain system in the country, has 60% share in foreign exchange earnings and engages 38% of labour force directly or indirectly.

In particular, climate change is a common challenge faced by both Pakistan and China, posing threats to cotton cultivation.

In China, the average annual temperature rose by 0.24 degrees celsius every ten years in the past seven decades. The past 20 years were the warmest period since the beginning of the 20th century. As a result, extreme weathers like high precipitation and drought have been on the rise.

“In response, more than 630 cotton germplasm were collected”, said Zhang Rui. During the whole growth period of cotton, their growth potential, purity and sensitivity to ketamine were observed and analyzed to identify climate smart varieties.

“Using genetic engineering technology, cotton varieties with significantly improved environmental adaptability have been cultivated”, she said.