Planting dreams with soybeans

Departure and Arrival

Although the attack loomed large over the trip, members of Lam's team, including agricultural scientists, engineers and seed experts from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, alongside a group of Pakistani students from two Hong Kong middle schools, were not deterred, converging on Hong Kong International Airport in early May.

Lam said he hopes these students could observe their homeland from a different perspective and understand the connection between Hong Kong and Pakistan.

After a 10-hour flight and a layover, Lam and his team touched down in Lahore amid tight security. The trip, meant to be a straightforward agricultural exchange, now required navigating a complex security landscape.

Punjab, Pakistan's breadbasket, was the destination – a province with more than 100 million people and the most developed agricultural sector in the country.

"Introducing soybeans to Punjab is not an easy task," says Rehman, noting the crop's novelty to local farmers. In the following days, Rehman and Lam's team visited various villages, encountering soybean plots tucked away among cornfields, coriander, and winter melons, or nestled within vast sunflower expanses.

Zhang Guohong, a retired seasoned expert from Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, bridged language barriers through his extensive agricultural knowledge, communicating with local farmers about irrigation, fertilization, and cultivation techniques.

The high temperatures of Punjab, edging close to 50 degrees Celsius, posed a significant challenge. "The extremely hot weather almost melted everything," Zhang says.

And, the resilient seeds provided by Lam sprouted, offering a glimmer of hope. "I used to give them seeds that were already stable. This year, I brought new seeds that are still changing. It's only by starting from a seed and struggling together that they can develop new varieties that truly belong there", says Lam.

As the Chinese saying goes — give people fish and you feed them for a day. Teach them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime. Lam shared this Chinese philosophy through actions.