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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Friday that the first group of 300 Pakistani agriculture graduates has completed hands-on training in China’s Shaanxi province under a joint agricultural training initiative.
Launched in July last year, the program aims to send 1,000 students to China for modern vocational training in agriculture at the government’s expense. The first batch was sent at the start of the 2024–25 academic year, with future participants set to learn Chinese in Pakistan before departing.
In a post on X, PM Shehbaz expressed gratitude to the Chinese government and the two participating institutions. Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University and Yangling Vocational and Technical College. He highlighted that the training covered key areas such as water-saving irrigation, seed production, animal husbandry, crop production, and post-harvest loss prevention.
The Prime Minister also praised the efforts of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Security, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), and the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing for ensuring the program’s success.
The Chinese Embassy congratulated the graduates and expressed hope that they will contribute to agricultural modernization and strengthen Pakistan-China cooperation.
This initiative comes as Pakistan seeks to revive its struggling agriculture sector, which saw only 0.6% growth in 2024–25, far below the 2% target and sharply down from the previous year’s 6.4%. Major crops such as wheat, cotton, and maize declined by 13.5%, underscoring the urgency of agricultural reform.
