ISLAMABAD, Oct 3 (ABC): China’s technical cooperation is set to play a key role in Pakistan’s planned overhaul of its agricultural research system. The plan includes five specialised Centres of Excellence, internationally accredited laboratories and stronger regional research centres.
The restructuring of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) is being undertaken under the broader initiative, “Reimagining Agricultural Research in Pakistan.” It aims to transform the council into a leaner, performance-driven organisation, with research infrastructure more closely aligned with food security, climate resilience and export growth.
According to documents available with Wealth Pakistan, PARC is pursuing institutional affiliation with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). The collaboration is intended to draw on Chinese expertise in research management, advanced research facilities and human resource development.
Five Centres of Excellence planned
A major component of the plan is the establishment of five thematic Centres of Excellence at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) in Islamabad. Rather than creating new standalone institutions, existing NARC facilities will be upgraded and modernised with technical input from CAAS.
The proposed centres will focus on genome-based research in field and horticultural crops; genetic improvement and health management of livestock; and climate-smart solutions for land, water and energy. Other areas include artificial intelligence and technology in agri-food systems, as well as food processing and value addition.
Five sub-working groups, with focal persons from NARC, have been constituted to advance technical cooperation for each Centre of Excellence. The groups will organise collaboration around specific research areas.
Internationally accredited laboratories
Alongside research modernisation, the restructuring seeks to strengthen Pakistan’s agricultural export compliance system. In particular, the plan aims to address gaps in internationally recognised testing and certification.
According to the documents, Pakistani agricultural exports regularly face rejection because domestic test reports and certificates are not recognised in importing markets.
To address the issue, PARC plans an integrated project to establish state-of-the-art, internationally accredited laboratory infrastructure at NARC, Islamabad. Funding is expected to be provided by the Export Development Fund.
The proposed laboratories will be developed in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017. They will also seek recognition from ISTA, WOAH and IPPC/EPPO where applicable.
The objective is to enable Pakistan to issue internationally accepted test reports as well as phytosanitary, food safety and veterinary certificates through a single national hub.
The laboratory infrastructure will cover veterinary export testing; soil, water and fertiliser testing; seed quality testing; and food quality testing. It will also support food composition and authenticity testing, pesticide residue compliance, plant health diagnostics and DNA fingerprinting.
Regional research network to be consolidated
The reform programme also envisages rationalising PARC’s institutional structure by merging overlapping institutes. Each institute is being assessed against two main criteria — alignment with national priorities and performance. Low-performing or overlapping entities could consequently be merged, restructured or phased out.
Under the plan, PARC’s existing 10 regional research establishments will be consolidated into four stronger agro-ecology-based research centres. These will be the Tropical Agricultural Research Centre in Karachi, Dryland Agricultural Research Centre in Quetta, Mountain Agricultural Research Centre in Gilgit and Arid Zone Research Institute in D.I. Khan.
The restructuring follows a visit by a high-level delegation from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and CAAS in September 2025. The delegation visited at the invitation of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Security and Research and assessed PARC, NARC and affiliated institutes.
The assessment found that despite the system’s strategic potential, agricultural research was constrained by chronic underinvestment, fragmented incentives and duplication of effort between federal and provincial bodies. It concluded that deeper structural reforms were required to meet the demands of modern agriculture.
Subsequently, a comprehensive plan to revamp and restructure PARC was presented to the Prime Minister on March 17, 2026, and approved.
The Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Agriculture and Food Security is monitoring implementation of the restructuring plan.
