According to a report by Gwadar Pro, Xinjiang cotton has a competitive advantage and appropriate lessons for Pakistan. In addition, Pakistani cotton producers should employ Chinese intercropping and double cropping practices.
According to the report’s citation of Dr. Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, Director of the Center for South Asia & International Studies (CSAIS), mechanical harvesting in Xinjiang reduced water and fertilizer usage by 50% and 30%, respectively. Additionally, it increased the yield by the same percentage while decreasing the labor cost by 30%. The close mechanical harvesting collaboration between Pakistan and China will increase cotton production in the nation.
It is important to promote the creation of novel cotton seed varieties and to work with Chinese molecular biologists to introduce seeds that are climate-adaptive. Fortunately, the Punjab government has established two agro-based industrial zones in Vehari and Bhalwal that provide Chinese businesses with a number of benefits, including tax exemptions, and should be exploited to create a knowledge bridge between the two nations.
Although one of Pakistan’s most important crops, cotton’s unit production lags well behind that of Xinjiang. Due to the proximity and comparable natural circumstances between Pakistan and Xinjiang, many Xinjiang businesses find it simpler to develop high-yield, high-quality cotton seeds appropriate for planting in Pakistan.
Under CPEC, natural cotton with gold fibers can see pushover economic stimulation. Furthermore, collaboration and tight cooperation in the manufacturing of cotton would hasten future collaborative ventures in the clothing industry. Therefore, cooperation in cotton production between Xinjiang and Pakistan is the way to go and it should be put into practice as soon as possible.
The Xinjiang region has developed into a “hub” of global cotton production thanks to ongoing “structural changes,”, particularly in the economy, agriculture, agro-machinery, investments, and infrastructure development. It currently has a specific “comparative advantage” in the production of cotton globally. With advanced biological breeding technology for cotton, high-quality cotton seed production technology, and high-yield and high-efficiency cultivation and management technique for cotton, China has certain comparative advantages in cotton research and industrialization that should be shared with the Pakistani cotton growers under CPEC in the nation.
