Pakistan’s rice exports to China may cross one million tonnes: official

BEIJING: Pakistan has a huge potential to enhance rice export to several countries, especially China and Pakistani rice export is likely to cross one million tonnes within two years with an increased demand from the Chinese market, a diplomat said.

Commercial Counsellor of Pakistan Embassy in China Badar uz Zaman told APP: “Last year our rice exports to China was 475,000 tons and in quantity-wise we are the third largest country, while in amount or money-wise we are fourth largest rice exporter to China.”

Last year, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand were the top three rice exporters to China, with the exports of 787,538 tonnes, 911,231 tonnes, and 324,642 tonnes, respectively.

China had appeared as one of the top destinations for Pakistani rice with 59 per cent increase of broken rice last year, while semi/wholly-milled rice and Irri-6 and Irri-9 are the main top two rice varieties imported by China, which amounted to around $259 million last year.

Zaman said that the number of registered rice exporters has increased to 53 and within the last two years, 18 new Pakistani rice companies were registered by the General Administration of Customs, China, which shows the huge demand for Pakistani rice in the Chinese market. These companies fully meet the Chinese standard.

The Irri-6 and Irri-9 types of rice have special Chinese consumer taste, while all commercial sections in China are trying B2B marketing to promote all kinds of Pakistani rice types, and also the products of quality are in demand here.

According to a report released by the China-Pakistan Agricultural and Industrial Information Platform (CPAIC), Pakistan has already become one of the top rice producers and exporters in the world.

The rice grown in Pakistan is mainly divided into basmati rice and non-basmati rice. Basmati rice, with slender and elongated grains, aromatic taste, and soft and fluffy texture when cooked, is one of the most favoured high-end rice varieties in the international market.

Pakistan is the most important growing area of basmati rice, besides India and Bangladesh.

Hybrid rice breeding assisted by China is elevating Pakistani rice yield to a new height.

Honglian hybrid rice developed by Wuhan University and harvested in eight demonstrative plots in Pakistan has demonstrated the ability to raise production by two times.

A rice variety bred by China’s Yuan Longping High-tech Agriculture Co, Ltd in collaboration with the Guard Agriculture Research and Services are anticipated to double the rice production in Pakistan from two tonnes/acre to four tonnes/acre.

Last year, a total of 500 tonnes of hybrid rice seeds from a seed company in east China’s Jiangsu province landed in Pakistan to help ensure the country’s grain yield.

China permitted imports of Pakistani rice on January 1, 2006. In February of the same year, the first batch of rice shipped from Pakistan.