At the festival, Ren Chuanying, an expert with the Institute of Food Sciences of HAAS, told reporters that the newly developed germinated brown rice is not only popular among Chinese consumers, but also provides an effective solution to the food crisis in Pakistan. 

She said that both Heilongjiang province and Pakistan are important rice planting areas. Meanwhile, China and Pakistan are close all-weather cooperative partners. HAAS is very concerned about the food security of friendly countries along BRI while boosting the development of local agriculture. “The germinated brown rice simply requires the rice to be sprouted according to specific processes. It has low requirements for rice quality, low technical threshold and low investment. It is very suitable for Pakistan,” Ren introduced. “There is a serious food shortage in Pakistan and locust plague and floods have further exacerbated the situation in 2020. If this variety of brown rice can be imported to Pakistan, the rice growing and processing chain in Pakistan can save crops about 20 percent and reduce processing costs about 20 percent,” she said.  

The technical core of the new germinated brown rice is to improve its taste. Ren said, “The germinated brown rice retains a lot of water and nutrients, which improves the taste.” “This new germinated brown rice will be very popular in Pakistan,” said Nowsherwan Zarif, a Pakistani doctor at Northeast Forestry University (NEFU) in China.