Shaanxi's agricultural zone bears fruit in nurturing talent

Northwest China's Shaanxi province has leveraged an agricultural hub, as well as its abundance in natural, scientific and educational resources, to cultivate talent for boosting agricultural cooperation among Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries, officials said.

Wu Wengang, vice-governor of the province, said at a news briefing on Saturday that since its launch in October 2020 in Yangling, the SCO Demonstration Base for Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training "has evolved into an important platform for agricultural exchanges and cooperation within the SCO".

Yangling is an agricultural high-tech industrial demonstration zone in Shaanxi.

More than 80 training sessions have been held in Yangling, providing agricultural technique knowledge to over 2,700 officials and professionals from SCO countries and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, Wu said, adding that over 50 online lectures have been conducted for SCO countries, attracting 51,000 participants.

In May 2024, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Yangling and announced plans to send 1,000 students to the agricultural demonstration base for training. In July, the first group of 292 trainees completed their three-month training program and returned to Pakistan, according to He Ling, a senior official with the management committee of the Yangling demonstration zone.

She highlighted that at the graduation ceremony, the trainees said the techniques they learned, such as in livestock disease prevention and control, and irrigation, will offer strong support for the development of modern agriculture in Pakistan.

In the future, we will develop tailored agricultural training sessions in line with the needs of SCO countries, and strive to train over 15,000 agricultural officials and technicians annually through both online and offline methods, He said.

jihaisheng@chinadaily.com.cn