Review of rice production in Pakistan.

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...