Tianjin’s selected cauliflower seed has gained wide popularity in Pakistan and helped relieve strained supplies.

Cauliflower is one of main vegetables in Pakistan. But there was a shortage of broccoli there due to the local breed’s long growth period and slow production.

Responding to the Belt and Road Initiative, the Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences offered its cultivated high-quality seed to the country. The high-yield seed has expanded local farmers’ incomes.

"We have our own improved cauliflower varieties and export about 5,000 kilograms of cauliflower seeds to Pakistan and other countries under the 'Belt and Road Initiative' every year," said Sun Deling, a 61-year-old cauliflower breeding expert at the academy.

Sun Deling went into vegetable cultivation research at the Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences after receiving his postgraduate degree in 1985.

At the time, foreign companies nearly monopolized China's cauliflower seed market, with imports accounting for 90 percent of the country's hybrid seeds.

Sun Deling and his team have greatly changed the situation by having cultivated 26 cauliflower varieties in the following decades with independent intellectual property rights, including "Xia Xue," "Feng Hua," and "Jin Pin".

They have been promoted to more than 20 provinces throughout China, generating a revenue of more than five billion yuan ($776 million).

"Our domestic cauliflower seeds can now account for 85 percent of the market," Sun said.