For Imran Baloch, a doctoral student in botany at Northwest A&F University in Yangling, Shaanxi Province, the journey from Pakistan to the heart of China’s farmlands is driven by a mission that deeply resonates with the most pressing challenge facing his homeland.
Yangling (China) (APP – Urdu Point / Pakistan a point news – March 25, 2026) For Imran Baloch, a doctoral student in botany at Northwest A&F University in Yangling, Shaanxi Province, the journey from Pakistan to the heart of China’s farmlands is driven by a mission that deeply resonates with the most pressing challenge facing his homeland: how to grow more food With less water. Arriving in September 2024, he immediately found himself in an environment uniquely suited to help him find the answers.
The challenge is particularly evident in Pakistan, where approximately 75 to 92 percent of the national land is classified as arid or semi-arid. These conditions extend from drought-affected areas of Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, to the southern regions of Punjab – the country’s agricultural heartland – which faces increasing water scarcity.
Similar challenges are also affecting large areas of Sindh and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For farmers across these regions, every drop of water matters, and every crop variety must be resilient. “I think my specialty is very important for Pakistani agriculture,” says Imran Baloch.
To address this problem, Imran masters an impressive array of cutting-edge plant science techniques at Northwest A&F University, including gene cloning, CRISPR/Cas9, RNAi, Dual-Luciferase assay, BiFC assay, and subcellular localization assay. “There are many techniques for gene editing.
“We modify the genetic structure of the plant, then grow it and try different techniques to help arid and semi-arid regions.”
His research focuses on crops such as canola and alfalfa – the former essential to Pakistan’s supply of edible oil and the latter for animal feed. “Protein-protein interactions, preparing mutants, preparing transgenic plants – we are studying these technologies because they are essential for Pakistan to get more yield from these crops against drought or salinity stress. China is very advanced in all these areas and is doing excellent research.”
Baloch believes he has found the perfect place to pursue this mission. Yangling is not just a university town; It is the only high-tech agricultural industrial demonstration zone in China. Most importantly, it carries a national mandate to promote agricultural modernization in arid and semi-arid regions – a mission that aligns directly with Pakistan’s climatic realities.
The area hosts the Yangling High Agricultural Technology Fair (CAF), one of the four major technology exhibitions in China, and is also home to an exhibition base for agricultural technology exchange and training among SCO countries, the Environmental Correspondence Network reported.
“I feel very lucky,” Baloch says. “I’m still amazed by the high-tech laboratories. All the tools you need are available in Chinese universities.” He is equally impressed by the strong university-institution collaboration that characterizes the Yangling model. “The university integrates very well with companies. We get support from companies, which allows us to focus on our research without being tied to other things.”
This integration extends beyond the laboratory and into the field. While some of his colleagues visited agricultural fairs, Baloch explored farmland just four to five kilometers from the university. “I saw different crops, like tomatoes, kiwi, wheat and grapes,” he recalls. “The fields were beautiful, and it is a very productive agricultural area. China is working to create more agricultural production areas. I think this is a very useful initiative.”
Before coming to China, Baloch had often heard people in Pakistan — from all walks of life, including those with no formal education — discussing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Now that he has experienced the learning opportunity firsthand, he feels a personal connection to the program’s impact. “After coming here and having these opportunities, I really understand that. I’m one of the people who was really impacted by the program,” he says.
His personal journey is part of a much larger story of collaboration. Northwest A&F University and Yangling have built deep ties with Pakistan over the years, involving talent development, joint research, technology communication and industrial cooperation. Since 2007, the university has trained 844 Pakistani students, including 449 doctoral graduates. As he advances his research, Imran hopes to contribute to this continuing legacy. “I hope that in the future I will have the opportunity to participate in cooperation between our university and Pakistan, and in other agricultural science and technology projects between China and Pakistan,” he says.