Top agriculture development organisations of Pakistan and China Wednesday signed a Project Co-operation Agreement for the establishment of Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre (HRRDC) in Pakistan. The agreement was signed among Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Yuian Longping High-Teeh Agriculture Co Ltd (YLHTACL) China and Guard Agricultural Research and Services (Pvt) Limited (GAR&SPL) Lahore.
All these organisations decided to establish a joint Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre in Pakistan to develop fine grain rice hybrids to meet the market demand in Pakistan, said a statement issued by PARC. The main purpose of the HRRDC is to breed elite high quality hybrid rice varieties by taking full advantage of the world's leading hybrid rice breeding technology of China and the elite rice germplasm of Pakistan, improve the hybrid rice breeding and innovation level of Pakistan and promote the rice productivity, as well as the food security in Pakistan. Dr Iftikhar Ahmad, Chairman PARC, Lui Lin Hui Incharge, Hybrid Rice Project in Pakistan, YLHTAC China and Dr Shahzad Ali Malik (SI) Chief Executive GAR&SPL Lahore signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.