Unleashing the Potential of Hybrid Rice in Pakistan

Rice is Pakistan’s second staple food and fourth-biggest export after Knitwear, Readymade garments, and Bed wear, but its production declined by 41 percent during 2022-23, coming in at 5.5 million tons according to the data published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The primary reason was devastating floods that knocked off 80 percent of expected rice production in Sindh which contributes to nearly a third of national output. Rice is also facing severe challenges from climate, weeds, and pests.
The true potential of any crop’s success is hidden in its seeds and hybrid rice is a potential answer to these barriers.
Hybrids for rice first surfaced during the 1970s when Dr Yuan Longping and his team averted a catastrophic famine in China making it the biggest rice producer in the world. He is still remembered as the second leader of the Green Revolution along with Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug.
Globally, rice has two main subspecies, Japonica and Indica. The Japonica rice comes from temperate & high-altitude environments, is short & stickier when cooked, and is cultivated in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Indica rice on the other hand is long, non-sticker (separate after cooking), and is grown in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Southern China, and Africa. In Pakistan, all cultivated varieties from basmati, extra-long grain, and coarse rice belong to the Indica species.
In traditional varieties, plants have both male and female parts on the same flower and reproduce through self-pollination, but hybrid rice is produced by crossing two different parents. It causes a process called heterosis, producing more spikelets (rice flower unit) per unit area and increased grain weight, yielding 20-30% more in comparison to traditional cultivars.
The hybrid rice program was formally initiated in Pakistan during the 1990s at Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku (RARI) in a combined effort with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). In 2021, the government approved Pakistan’s first Basmati Rice Hybrid developed at RARI and directed the auction of the licenses for marketing and distribution.
“Developing Basmati Hybrids is quite challenging because we have to protect its famous length and aroma” stated Dr Shawaiz Iqbal, Senior Scientist at RARI. He explained that the approved variety KSK111H has a yield potential of 115 maunds/acre and holds all the other features of basmati rice.
Although the process of commercializing is stalled after the government shuffle since the process of auction is yet to be outlined.
Lahore-based Guard Agriculture Research & Services is another industry leader in hybrid rice in Pakistan with a 74 percent market share. They have successfully developed and marketed half a dozen hybrid cultivars all having production potential of 120 maunds/acre and resistance against disease, shattering, lodging, and heat.
One of the key aspects of rice hybrids is increased yield from the same unit area of land. Pakistan is the fifth-largest country by population in the world and will soon cross Indonesia for the 4th spot. It is a double-edged sword putting pressure on existing food production while leaving less agricultural land on the other hand.
Our only shot at the food security of future generations is to ensure a vertical increase in production and hybrid cultivars are the key to that challenge. The second major threat to Rice production is looming climate change and resulting water scarcity. Rising temperatures are also a precursor to an increased occurrence of diseases and pests.
Hybrid cultivars provide us with the opportunity to effectively cope with these challenges without putting more pesticides and other agrochemicals in the field and further threatening the biodiversity and sustainability of the ecosystem. Hybrids can break the yield barriers and escape drought as well due to their shorter life span.
For example, all the rice hybrids introduced by Guard Agriculture Research are resistant to Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB). They can also sustain against salinity and water logging, which is increasingly ravaging our lands due to floods and mismanagement of water resources.
Lastly, hybrid rice will not only ensure domestic food security but will also fuel exports with increasing demand for this important cereal internationally especially the coarse types. Although hybrid rice gets lower prices in the local market in comparison to basmati, companies like Guard Agriculture assist farmers in exporting their produce.
The prime challenge in their widespread use is affordability both to farmers and the country. Being hybrids, farmers will have to buy their fresh seeds every year. If farmers cultivate the same seed from the previous year’s hybrid crop, the crop will produce inconsistent results and surely will not achieve ideal yields.
“The performance of Chinese hybrids is subject to specific climate as they are not all locally adopted, unlike our domestic cultivars”, added Iqbal.
He maintained that these hybrids are also vulnerable to climate change as happened during 2020 heatwaves, especially in September when temperature shifts affect flowering significantly.
He also argued that there is a need to protect the heritage of basmati rice by limiting the cultivation of these hybrids to Lower Punjab and Sindh, out of the Kallar Tract Rice belt (Narowal, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Kasur, Sheikhupura, etc).
Pakistan is the largest importer of hybrid rice in the world and has failed to indigenize its production despite years of collaboration with international actors, especially China. It drains foreign exchange from an agricultural-rich country that is always struggling to keep up with the balance of payments.
Government and private institutions must work on the technology transfer of hybrid rice which will not just ensure the indigenization of hybrids & save foreign reserves, but will also create huge local employment opportunities and will be relatively affordable due to domestic production.
Pakistan bigger exporter of basmati to Europe than India, panel told
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce told a Senate panel on Friday that the European Union has not given any preferential access to Indian basmati rice.
Replying to lawmakers’ questions during a meeting of the Senate Committee for Commerce, the ministry’s secretary said that at present, Pakistan was exporting more basmati rice to European markets than India.
Basmati rice is a shared production of India and Pakistan. In the recent past, it became a source of a contentious trade battle between the two nations after India applied for an exclusive trademark that would grant it sole ownership of the basmati title in the European Union.
The secretary, Sualeh Ahmed Farooqui, said the EU had yet to make any progress
on the request while Australia has also rejected a similar request from India. Legal proceedings are still ongoing in the United States, he added.
The meeting of the parliamentary committee also criticised the persistent absence of Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar from meetings.
At the outset of the meeting, Senator Danesh Kumar said the minister was asked to appear for questions from senators. He later walked out of the meeting to register his protest.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Zeeshan Khanzada, said ministers should give importance to parliamentary committees and ensure their participation. Otherwise, the issue will be raised with the Senate chairman.
Senator Faisal Javed raised the issue of royalties to artists. He said Pakistani artists had the right to get a royalty for their art aired on government and private electronic media.
He complained that even the state-run PTV was not providing royalties to artists for streaming their old dramas and music.
The chairman of the Intellectual Property Organisation, an attached department of the commerce ministry, told the committee that a law was being drafted for the protection of artists’ rights.
He added that feedback has been sought from stakeholders on the draft which will be shared soon with the standing committee.
Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Chief Executive Officer Zubair Motiwala briefed the committee on export diversification efforts and increasing exports to Africa.
He said TDAP wanted to promote the export of dates, pink salt, and mangoes which have now been registered under Geographical Indication (GI) tags.
Efforts are being made to increase the export of seafood as well, he added.
Briefing on the efforts to boost trade, the commerce secretary told the meeting that a grand exhibition was organised in Dubai while the private sector was being supported by the commerce ministry to participate in an exhibition held in Germany.
The committee was informed that 197 international trade fairs and 10 local trade fairs were organised during the last four years to promote exports.
Bushra Rehman of the Canada-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce informed the committee that Pakistan’s single-country exhibition would being held in North America in August. A total of 57 Pakistani companies will participate in this exhibition. The exhibition needed more support from the ministry and TDAP, she added.
The commerce secretary told the meeting that the production of dates has been greatly affected due to last year’s floods.
He said 300,000 tons of dates were exported annually, but this year only 5pc of them will be exported. The committee’s chairman said that the export capacity of the country should be prepared and provided to the committee in the next meeting by preparing a report on our current situation and comparison with different countries.
Pakistan Market Monitor Report – February 2023
HIGHLIGHTS
• Food prices continued to rise high since February 2022 for the 11th consecutive month (except for a decline by 0.1% in Dec-2022), with CPI food inflation in January 2023 increasing by 42.94% over January 2022. National and international drivers (fuel price hikes, energy costs, devaluation of rupee against dollar increasing prices of food/Non-food imported items, Russia-Ukraine war, etc) suggest that prices will remain high for the coming months.
• Headline inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is now 27.55%, the highest in 48 years (since 1975), representing an increase of 27.55% in January 2023 over January 2022. It should be noted that inflation rates in neighbouring countries stand at 5.2% (Afghanistan), 6.5% (India), and 8.6% (Bangladesh).
• In January 2023, prices increased for staple cereals wheat (+27.1%), wheat flour (subsidized) (+17.0%), wheat flour (Fine) (+8.2%), rice Basmati (+16.3%) and rice Irri-6 (+14.6%) compared to December 2022, representing an increase of 90% in wheat, 78% in both wheat flour (subsidized) and wheat flour (Fine), 61% in rice Irri-6 and 53% in rice Basmati from the same time a year ago.
• Among non-cereal food commodities, prices increased for chicken (+21.0%), pulses (Moong (+5.2%), Gram (+2.7%), Mash (+2.6%), Masoor (+2.0%)) and eggs (+2.0%) from the previous month, representing an increase in chicken (+99%), eggs (+60%), Moong (+56%), Gram (+48%), Mash (+40%) and Masoor (+21%) from the same time a year ago. On the other hand, prices decreased for ghee (-2.1%) and sugar (-1.1%) from December 2022.
• A comparison of pre-flood (June 2022) and post-flood (January 2023), some food commodities indicated huge increase in prices; for instance, price of onions increased up to 220%, wheat flour 74%, rice Irri 68%, pulse moong 65%, rice Basmati 45%, and milk 39%.
• Average Terms of Trade (ToT) for January 2023, measuring the amount of wheat flour that can be purchased with one-day of casual unskilled labor wage worsened by 14.0% from the previous month. The retail prices of automotive fuels increased in January 2023 compared to the previous month i.e., Super Petrol (+16.0%) and High-Speed Diesel (+15.0%).
Asia rice: more exports, stronger baht send Thai rates to 6-month high

MUMBAI/ HANOI/ BANGKOK,/DHAKA: Prices of rice exported from Thailand this week rose to their highest since early June on the back of increasing shipments and a stronger baht, while cheaper rates for the staple in India kept orders rolling in.
Thailand’s 5% broken rice prices were quoted at $452-$460 per tonne, up from a $425-$457 range last week.
“There is more demand from Asian countries now, while African countries are more interested in rice from India,” said one Bangkok-based trader.
There was news that supply could soon tighten so exporters were buying to stock up, said another trader.
Top exporter India’s 5% broken parboiled variety edged higher to $374-$380 per tonne, from last week’s $373-$378, on a slight improvement in demand, although rising supplies from the new season crop capped the upside.
“December’s second half usually remains quiet but this year few sellers got export orders since Indian rice is cheaper than other destinations,” said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Traders said Cuba was buying more rice from India, with a vessel being loaded with 28,150 tonnes at Kakinada Port for delivery.
Neighbouring Bangladesh was in talks with India to buy a total of 200,000 tonnes of rice in government-to-government deals, officials said, as it seeks to build reserves to cool domestic prices of the grain. Vietnam’s 5% broken rice was offered at $448-$453 per tonne, unchanged from a week ago, when rates reached their highest level since July last year.
“Demand for Vietnamese rice remains steady, especially from top buyer, the Philippines,” said a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City.
Preliminary shipping data showed 167,650 tonnes of rice is to be loaded at Ho Chi Minh City port in the Dec. 1-28 period, with most of it heading to the Philippines and Indonesia.
Rice 2022: a good year for (some) farmers?

Just 9 months ago, rice was marketed as the cereal that would save the planet. As war broke out in the Black Sea, fertilizer prices spurt out of control, and wheat harvests failed across the globe, world rice production remained unaffected, restraining fears of global food insecurity and hunger. Pakistani policymakers breathe a sigh of relief, as a substantial surplus in rice production could help mitigate two of their worst fears: a grain/cereal shortage in the local market; and, a widening trade deficit. Unfortunately, that hope could prove short-lived.
First, came the floods. The horrific monsoon rains destroyed Sindh’s coarse rice crop, which in the past has contributed up to 80 percent of Pakistan’s rice export by volume, and 75 percent by value. Pakistan’s annual rice production has now been written down by at least 3 million metric tons (MMT), down from 9.3MMT achieved last year. During 5MFY23, coarse rice exports are down by 5 percent in volume, and 9 percent in value, even as residual exports fetched the highest unit prices in nearly a decade.
Since then, luck has only taken a turn for the worse. Global rice production forecast has been lowered by 12 percent, as output in India dropped by a whopping 6MMT. As the world’s largest rice exporter imposed duties and tariffs on the export stage – particularly on broken rice and other coarse rice varieties – global prices have picked up, further tightening world supply. Unfortunately, Pakistani exporters are in no position to gain from the situation.

The story of basmati export is even berserk. Basmati prices in the international market have risen by more than half – 56 percent between Nov 2021 and 2022. Yet, it seems a grain shortfall in the local market coupled with tightening supplies due to lower cultivated area has resulted in weaker exports – which are 29 percent lower in volume terms during 5MFY23 compared to the same period last year. This more than offset the gains on unit prices, with an overall 11 percent drop in basmati export revenue during the period under review.
Although the exporting industry is hopeful that things shall pick up in the latter half of the fiscal year, don’t pin your hopes on it. After the wiping out of coarse rice surplus from Sindh, the record-shattering export target achieved during the last fiscal is now a distant dream. Higher basmati prices could stem the tide of falling export revenue, but the quantity exported of basmati would have to rise by at least 50 percent – from 0.75MMT in FY22 to 1.15MMT in FY23 – for annual rice export receipts to reach the $2.5 billion goal.
Two push factors may alleviate the export situation. First, premium basmati prices in the local market have skyrocketed over the last two months. If demand shows significant price elasticity, expect more supplies to become available for export. Two, inventory financing trends raises the possibility that procurement by milling segment may be keeping up pace with last year, even though bank lending rates have basically doubled between Nov 2021 and 2022. Of course, an alternative explanation could be that mills are paying through their noses for a smaller crop. Only market insiders can explain!
Either way, if you were a Pakistani rice farmer with a healthy crop yield during the outgoing Kharif 2022 season – most likely located in the northeast or central Punjab, congratulations on a year of excellent profitability!
Anti-smog action may delay wheat sowing in rice belt
LAHORE: The ongoing anti-smog crackdown may impede wheat sowing campaign in the rice belt as farmers are not clearing paddy stubble from their fields through manual or chemical means.
“We don’t have finances and tools other than applying the centuries old technique of burning the paddy crop leftovers for preparing our fields for next crop (wheat) in the small window available for both clearing remnants of the previous harvest and ploughing the land for next plantation,” says Abu Bakr, a farmer from Gujranwala district.
But the anti-smog squad of the provincial government is imposing heavy fines on the farmers who are getting rid of stubble through burning for timely preparations of lands for wheat sowing, he says.
Devoid of financial and technical resources, small farmers in the rice area are sitting idle at their homes, perplexed how to prepare their fields for the next crop, he adds.
Farmers lack resources to opt for alternative to stubble burning
If no step is taken by the government at the earliest, wheat plantation will at least be delayed if not missed and late sowing will lead to poor crop yield, he fears.
Endorsing his views, Kisan Board Pakistan central vice-president Amanullah Chattha regrets that the administration in rice-growing districts is harassing the farmers through heavy fines and instituting criminal cases against those who burn stubble at their fields for timely preparing them for wheat plantation.
This crackdown, he warns, is not only causing unrest among the farming community but will also lead to national food insecurity if wheat could not be sown in hundreds of thousands of acres of land.
He argues that the administrative action against the growers is uncalled for because the agriculture research institutions could not offer any alternative system or chemical to dispose of the paddy stubble.
He urges the government to refrain from penalising the farmers until and unless it comes up with an alternative method other than burning for getting rid of crop leftovers otherwise, he cautions, the unrest among the farming community may make it to take to the streets.
Pakistan rice export to China increases nearly 10%

BEIJING: Pakistan’s export of rice to China crossed $277.56 million in the first five months of Financial Year 2021-2022, up 9.73 percent year-on-year bases. Pakistan remained one of the major broken rice suppliers to China, according to the official data from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC).
Badar uz Zaman, Commercial Counselor of the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing, said that currently broken rice, especially IRRI-6, IRRI-9, and semi or wholly milled rice were the main varieties of rice exported to China while Basmati and other top varieties still need to work hard to capture the Chinese market.
“Last year, China imported 973,000 tons of rice worth $437 million from Pakistan. Seven new Pakistan rice exporters have been added to the approved list, which has risen to 53 in 2021. China relaxed import restrictions on Pakistani rice which helped rice export to China”, Badar mentioned.
He believes that within a few years Pakistan will become the largest rice exporter to China, CEN reported.
In the first five months, broken rice, commodity code (10064080), crossed about $42 million, an increase of nearly 865.26% as compared with last year, which was $4.32 million. Semi or wholly milled rice, commodity code (10063020), reached $132 million, according to GACC data received by Pakistan.
Badar Uz Zaman said that Pakistan was using traditional and especially social media platforms here to create awareness about Pakistani rice in the Chinese market.
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The high cost of low yields

Pakistani rice sold in international market labeled ‘made in India’
Pakistani rice traders are reportedly unhappy after they found out that Pakistani rice is being sold in the international market with a "made in India" tag.
Speaking to Deutsche Welle (DW) a German international broadcaster, the Managing Director of Charagh Group of Companies Khalil Ahmed said that "Indians in Muscat, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai purchase rice from us but sell it under their own brands and labelling." Pakistan's rice export association has filed a lawsuit against Indian rice purchaser companies in an international court. But since the case is still pending in court, the association has declined to speak with DW about the matter. According to rice traders, the issue is not just about branding. Ahmed explained that as a result of crop cultivation when farmers sow the seed, rice becomes scarce in the market, which naturally increases the price of rice. Once the crop has reached maturity, the farmer begins harvesting. He stated that 10% to 20% of paddy is broken during the reaping process due to a lack of modern equipment. Once the rice crop reaches the mills, the crop must be dried and husked, which requires more modern machinery. Similarly, the rice breaks during the process and all of these factors add to the cost.This year, Pakistan will export 36 million tonnes of rice to a lot of different countries, with basmati rice accounting for 20% of the total.
Rice valuing $1.066b exported in H1-FY2021-22
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Pakistan posts record rice production

Containers: Rice exporters urge govt to ensure timely availability

Pakistan poised to export near-record rice volume this season

Pakistan poised to export near-record rice volume this season

Pakistani rice export to China has huge potential perts

rice export: cautious optimism




India-Pakistan tug of war over GI tag for Basmati rice takes a new turn

RUSSIA INCREASES RICE IMPORT VOLUME FROM PAKISTAN

Rice exporters slam PM aide’s claim
Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan say the statement regarding no demand of basmati rice in the world is misleading

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