The significance of rice in agricultural crops cannot be ignored as it is the staple food for greater than 50 percent population of the world and a big source to cope with the food security issues of the world.
International researchers calculated that worldwide rice production for 2022-23 will shrink for the first time in 3-year after extreme weather events — from China to South Asia and California damaged harvests. The production fall shows a reversal after consecutive years of bigger rice crops. The resultant plentiful supplies, mainly in top exporters India, have assisted to temper global rice prices, even as prices for other agricultural commodities have swung sharply in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Now, tightening supplies of rice, the world’s No. 3 most cultivated grain, could add upward pressure on rice prices and threaten to boost food insecurity and food price inflation in various states. India, normally the world’s No. 1 rice exporter, in September banned exports of broken rice and set a 20 percent duty on exports of certain other types of rice. Furthermore, rice is grown globally, sometimes with multiple growing seasons within a country.
In Pakistan, rice is a significant cash crop after wheat and it is 2nd major staple food item consumed in our country. Its production consists of 34 percent of basmati (fine) types and 66 percent of coarse types. During the last few years, the production of coarse types is growing as the farmers are bringing more areas under coarse hybrid types.
Rice contributes 2.4 percent of value added in agriculture and 0.5 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). No doubt, the rice sector in Pakistan is extremely important in terms of export earnings, domestic employment, rural development, and poverty reduction. Rice is an important food and also a cash crop in Pakistan. During FY2021-22, statistics revealed that the crop was sown on 3,537 thousand hectares, explaining a raise of 6.1 percent as against 3,335 thousand hectares the previous year. The record-high output of rice reached 9.323 million tons during FY2021-22, higher by 10.7 percent than last year’s production of 8.420 million tons. Over the last couple of years, the area under rice cultivation is witnessing a rising trend. As domestic rice production exceeds the domestic annual requirement, Pakistan often has an exportable surplus. Unluckily apocalyptic floods and drenching monsoon spells have killed almost 1,700 people in Pakistan, particularly in Sindh and Balochistan provinces, the two hardest-hit regions, flattening hundreds of thousands of houses, schools, and hospitals, and wiping out huge swathes of agricultural lands. It is really a blessing that the cash crop of rice has survived the onslaught of floods and can fetch a substantial amount in export earnings, while most of the other summer crops have been destroyed. The Country has not lost its rice crop.
Damages are minimal, the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) said. It is also said that Pakistan is in a position to meet the rice export target, which is almost equal to the exports made in the previous year. The country exported 4.8 million tons of rice last year. According to REAP’s statistics; Pakistan’s total rice crop is almost 9 million tons. Of this, 4.5 million tons are exported and the remaining 4.5 million tons are sold in domestic markets. Of the total harvest, 5 million tons comprise Basmati rice while 4 million tons consist of non-Basmati paddy. After assessing the losses inflicted by the natural disaster, experts are expecting a satisfactory rice harvest of 8 million tons.
Regarding flood damage, it is said that Punjab’s rice belt remained nearly unscathed. Sindh too had a similar rich crop but unluckily it was partly wiped off. There are two rice belts in Sindh – upper and lower belts. Areas falling in the lower belt include Golachi, Badin, and Tando Mohammad Khan where farmers have bumper crops. But it is said that almost 20 percent of the crop has been damaged in the upper belt stretching over areas of Larkana, Jacobabad, Kandhkot, and other cities in close proximity.
Rice is grown in all provinces of Pakistan but fine quality basmati rice varieties exhibiting special features of elongated grain, fragrance, and light delicious taste are popular from the Pak-Punjab ‘Kalar’ tract. Basmati rice enjoys economic significance in the economy of Pakistan by contributing 3.1 percent towards its total agricultural value addition and 0.6 percent to the national GDP.
For many Pakistanis, particularly in Punjab, rice production serves as the backbone of the agriculture sector of the country. Statistics also showed that rice is planted on about 11 percent of the total agricultural land area during the summer or Kharif season. The crop also plays a tremendously important role in its national economy, making Pakistan a global player in the rice-exporting industry. Rice production has increased due to quality seeds. Farmers are using hybrid seeds that produce good-quality rice and raise output.