Rice output can reach 9mln tons in three years: official

LAHORE: By increasing the high-yielding hybrid rice seed coverage area from existing 25-30 percent to over 50 percent in the next three years, the national rice production can increase by a hefty two million tons, an industry official said on Monday.

“Currently rice yield stands at 6.9 million ton from 2.79 million hectares. As a result of this two-fold increase in cultivation area the total output will reach around nine million tons,” Shahzad Ali Malik, chief executive officer of Guard Rice Research & Services Pvt Ltd, said at a discussion after the oath-taking ceremony of Agriculture Journalists Association’s (AJA) office bearers..

“Pakistan’s rice sector has witnessed a sea change in last about a decade with considerable gains in production of long grain rice.”

Malik said several multinational seed companies like, Monsanto, Pioneer, Syngenta, and Bayer had tried to introduce hybrid rice seed but failed to attract growers, leave alone outperforming national seed companies.

“Their varieties were less rewarding for farmers due to lack of significant increase in production, while seed cost was also high compared to what local companies were offering,” he added.

He said with untiring efforts of local scientists, the role of private sector in seed research and development was expanding day by day.

“In total rice hybridisation, around 90 percent area of long-grain paddy is in Sindh , while 10 percent in South Punjab,” Malik said adding, however, with the production of hybrid rice seed in central Punjab, paddy area in the province was likely to increase significantly in coming years.

He said the major factor behind success of national seed companies in large-scale acceptance of rice hybrid seed, had been development of heat-resistant and drought-tolerant varieties.

“The multinational seed varieties could not perform well in harsh summer of Sindh and Southern Punjab.”

Hence, Malik said, the long-grain hybrid rice that substituted IRRI-6 in coastal belt and central Sindh was a major success as its export market was rapidly evolving in the favour of farmers and exporters.

“The higher yield and lower production give a premium to farmers, considerably changing their socio-economic conditions,” Malik said.

He further said consequently, country’s long-grain rice was gaining grounds globally with much ease by competing major producers and exporters like Vietnam and Thailand.