Navigating the agriculture sector.

KARACHI -- Pakistan is an agrarian economy, and the agriculture sector includes crops, livestock, fisheries, and forestry. Agriculture accounts for roughly 25% of GDP, and Pakistan is among the world's top producers of wheat, cotton, sugarcane, mangoes, dates, rice, and oranges. The agriculture sector not only meets domestic demand for food but also contributes significantly to the country's export earnings. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the value of agricultural exports in 2023-24 was $5.2 billion, an increase of 13% from the previous year. The major agricultural exports include rice, fruits, vegetables, cotton yarn, raw cotton, fish, and fish preparations. The growth in agricultural exports was driven by improved productivity, better prices, and increased demand in the global market. Pakistan has also invested in modernising its agriculture sector by adopting new technologies, enhancing water management, improving seed quality, expanding cultivated land for high-value crops, strengthening linkages between processors and growers, and providing incentives for agro-processing.

Among the major crops grown in Pakistan, rice, sugarcane, and cotton are important for both domestic consumption and export. Rice is the second most important staple food crop after wheat and occupies about 10% of the total cropped area. Pakistan produces different varieties of rice, including basmati, famous for its aroma and quality. Pakistan is expected to produce a record 9 million tonnes of rice during the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23), compared to 8.9 million tonnes produced during FY22. Experts believe that better weather conditions will play a key role in this record production. Pakistan exported 3.9 million tonnes of rice worth $2.2 billion in 2020-21, making it the 10th largest rice exporter in the world.

Sugarcane is grown on about 13% of the cropped area and is used for sugar production as well as ethanol and other by-products. Pakistan produced 67.1 million tonnes of sugarcane in 2020-21, making it the fifth-largest sugarcane producer in the world. However, due to a low sugar recovery rate and high cost of production, Pakistan has to import sugar to meet its domestic demand. Sugar production in 2023-24 is forecasted at 7.05 million tonnes, 3% above the 2022-23 estimate. The marginal increase is due to expectations for a recovery in cane area harvested compared to the flood-damaged 2022-23 crop. Cotton is the most important cash crop and a...