Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for revamping the agriculture sector of the country in alignment with the latest agro-based techniques and practices, and to learn from the expertise of China. He was addressing a ceremony in Islamabad on Friday in connection with the dispatch of a batch of three hundred agri-graduates to China.

According to Radio Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif stated that currently, one hundred agricultural graduates are receiving training in China. The first batch of three hundred students has already returned, while the second batch of three hundred students is set to embark on its journey to China on Sunday. He advised the students to maintain the highest level of punctuality and commitment to learning modern farming knowledge and techniques.

The Prime Minister emphasized agriculture as the backbone of the country, asserting that any efforts and investments in this sector will bolster Pakistan's economy. He mentioned that the graduates were selected transparently and on merit from across Pakistan, including regions such as Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Additionally, he noted that Balochistan has been given a ten percent additional quota beyond its share, a policy also applied in the laptop scheme to support students from the province.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to Chinese President Xi Jinping and the government of China for supporting this initiative. Earlier in the ceremony, Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain mentioned that three hundred agricultural graduates were chosen from five thousand applicants across Pakistan through a merit-based and competitive process. These graduates will receive training in livestock breeding, genomics, disease surveillance, seed technology, and high-efficiency irrigation.