Rice, an important food and cash crop, is the third largest crop of Pakistan after wheat and cotton. It is planted on an area of over 2.5 million ha (11% of the total cropped area) and accounts for 17% of the total cereals produced annually. The annual production of milled rice is about 5.5 million tonnes sharing 5.5% in agriculture sector and 1.1% in GDP. Pakistan is famous for growing and exporting long grain aromatic Basmati rice. Rice exports hovering around three million tonnes per annum have accounted for 5% of the foreign exchange from merchandize exports. The rice export increased manifold during the recent years and a record export of 3.69 million tonnes of worth about Rs.70 billion was made during 2005-06 (Figure 1). The country ranks 14th in terms of rice production and 6th in rice export in the world. [More]

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