Student’s cucumber research may benefit farmers

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A Pakistani student, Rahat Sharif, 28, has successfully conducted research in China boosting cucumber production that Pakistani farmers can also benefit to enhance yield production thus improving the income.

“Our lab conducts research of developing cucumber resistance against powdery mildew. The applied research has not only improved the production of cucumber but also the livelihood of local farmers,” Rahat Sharif, a Pakistani student at the China's Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University (NWAFU) told China Economic Net.

.“Welcome Chinese biotech companies to boost Pakistan’s cucumber production,” Rahat Sharif remarked. 

Hailing from Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Rahat has recently completed his MSc degree from NWAFU. 

“I started my research in 2017 in the lab of vegetable ecophysiology and biotechnology. We do research on cucumber’s production, quality and response to different environmental stresses. My research focused particularly on the role of HD-ZIP gene family in cucumber’s growth and development under various abiotic and biotic stresses,” he explained. 

“Our lab has developed several cucumber varieties and they were provided to local farmers in Shaanxi province, which had successfully lifted some farmers out of poverty,” he said. 

Rahat believed that his research will also help Pakistani farmers increase the production of cucumber and get rid of poverty.