China has emerged as one of the prime destinations for Pakistan’s rice exports as reflected in a 244% increase in shipments to the neighboring country over the last four years, said Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President SM Naveed.
On Friday, Talking to representatives of Chinese trade companies, he said that the aim of exporting 10 million tons of Irri-6 rice to China could be met if targeted efforts were made to market the commodity in Beijing.
“New hybrid rice varieties are being developed in Pakistan, which will yield a higher output while minimising input costs amid water scarcity,” he said.
He pointed out that the Rice Research Institute had developed new techniques to cultivate rice through the “broadcasting system” instead of manual sapling plantations.
Elaborating, he said that under the technique, if farmers succeeded in planting 80,000 plants in a field, they would get more production and save input costs by up to Rs14,000 per acre.
The new rice production technique, based on the broadcasting system, was not only cheaper but would also help save 30-35% of irrigation water.
