About 2.6 million hectares of land would come under rice cultivation with an estimated production of 5.1 million tonnes this year.
The total consumption of rice in the country is 2.2 million tonnes, while about two million tonnes of rice are exported, said Inayatullah Khan, Rice Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture while talking to PTV on Wednesday.
He stressed the need for promoting production of qualitative rice such as Basmati which has international demand and also gives better cost to farmers as compared to other varieties.
The target of Basmati rice production has been set as 2.5 million tonnes for 2004-05, he said, adding in 2003-04 its production was 2.3 million tonnes, while 1.9 million tonnes in 2000-01.
The hybrid seeds are being promoted in production of Irri rice to achieve better results, the commissioner said.
He said the use of hybrid seeds gives 30 percent extra yield as compared to other conventional varieties, adding another technology is being applied in the fields to grow maximum number of plants of rice to get better production from every field.