Chinese red chili contract farming opens vistas for development in Pakistan's agriculture sector

STORY: Chinese red chili contract farming opens vistas for development in Pakistan's agriculture sector DATELINE: July 11, 2023 LENGTH: 00:02:24 LOCATION: Islamabad CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Pakistani farmers and laborers 2. STANDUP (English): MISBAH SABA MALIK, Xinhua reporter 3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Urdu): MARYAM BIBI, Local farmer 4. various of Chinese red chilies 5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): XI JIANLONG, Chinese manager from CMEC at Pakistan-China red chili contract farming 6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): RAO SHAHAB, Local landowner STORYLINE: STANDUP (English): MISBAH SABA MALIK, Xinhua reporter "Here is a Chinese chili, and right now I'm in Pakistan's east Punjab province where the harvest of chili has been started, and the farmers are eyeing to complete it before the start of monsoon season." This year, Pakistani farmers and laborers are happy to get a bumper harvest of Chinese red chilies and expect to get good profits as the yield is double that of other varieties of pepper available in Pakistan.

Pakistan's oilseed industry to bloom under China-Pakistan agriculture cooperation

STORY: Pakistan's oilseed industry to bloom under China-Pakistan agriculture cooperation DATELINE: Feb. 28, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:21 LOCATION: GUJRANWALA, Pakistan CATEGORY: AGRICULTURE SHOTLIST: 1. STANDUP (English): MISBAH SABA MALIK, Xinhua reporter 2. various of the farmland 3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): GHAZANFAR ALI, Head of marketing, Evyol group 4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ZHOU XUSHENG, Director of the int'l business department, Wuhan Qingfa-Hesheng Seed Co., Ltd. 5. various of the farmland STORYLINE: STANDUP (English): MISBAH SABA MALIK, Xinhua reporter "The bloom in canola flowers is the harbinger of established oil seed industry in Pakistan through Pak-China agriculture cooperation." Chinese seed company Wuhan Qingfa Hesheng and Pakistani company Evyol group jointly provide high-quality hybrid seeds to Pakistani farmers to help the country meet its edible oil demand. Pakistan's annual consumption of cooking oil is around 5 million tonnes, but due to the low economic potential of oilseeds in the local m

Syrians balk at buying "pricey" Eid al-Fitr sweets amid soaring prices

STORY: Syrians balk at buying "pricey" Eid al-Fitr sweets amid soaring prices DATELINE: April 30, 2022 LENGTH: 00:03:28 LOCATION: Damascus CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the sweets shops in Damascus 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): MISBAH KANDAH, Sweets maker 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): ALI IBRAHIM, Sweets maker STORYLINE: Due to the soaring prices of everything, much fewer customers seem to be willing to squeeze money to buy traditional sweets of the Eid al-Fitr feast. Previously, when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan would come to an end, the popular marketplaces such as in Midan, or Bab Srijeh among other ancient souks in Damascus, would be thronged by hundreds of people rushing to buy the sweets of Eid. This is an old tradition as Muslim celebrate the end of the fasting month with a lot of local sweets. During the crisis, the purchasing power of the people decreased but the tradition remained alive. This year, however, the economic situation has become excruciating as a result of the prolonged crisis

Japanese man wins open division of world sumo tourney

Japanese man wins open division of world sumo tourney

Soichiro Kurokawa (back), Japanese company employee, tussles with Hossam Fathi Omar Misbah of Egypt en route to winning the open-weight category of the amateur World Sumo Championships in Sakai, Osaka, western Japan, on Aug. 30, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo