LAHORE: The dream of exporting around 10 million tons of irri-6 rice to China could turn into reality if sustained efforts to market Pakistani rice to China are pursued, focusing on the need of the Chinese population.

President Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) S.M Naveed stated this while talking to a representative of a Chinese import and export company. PCJCCI Senior Vice President Daud Ahmed and other office bearers were also present on the occasion. China has emerged as one of the destinations for Pakistani rice exports, as reflected in the 244 percent increase in rice exports to the country during the last four years, he said.

He said that, new hybrid rice varieties are being developed in Pakistan which would give maximum yield by utilizing minimum input costs during water scarcity. The Rice Research Institute had developed new techniques to cultivate rice through a broadcasting system instead of manual sapling plantation. Under this technique, if farmers succeed in setting up 80,000 plants in a field, they will get more production besides saving input costs up to Rs14, 000 per acre.

Daud Ahmed said that the new technique of rice production based on broadcasting system is not only cheaper but also helps to save 30-35 percent irrigation water. He suggested propagating this technique at broader level in villages of Pakistan. He also urged to organize training programs for farmers in this regard.

The response of Chinese importers for Pakistani rice is overwhelming as compared to rice imported from Thailand and Vietnam. He said, our rice industry is not showing its full potential due to some internal barriers related to planning and strategic implementations. He further added that rice exporters deserve the patronage of government at par with textile industry to develop rice export as one of the major foreign-exchange -earning sector, he said.

PCJCCI Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif said the Pak-China Joint Chamber is going to launch a concrete drive to market Pakistani rice in China by creating a personalized demand among Chinese people.

The body is exploring new techniques with China to improve the quality of rice. The Chinese buyers prefer to buy the rice with good milling quality. Hence, PCJCCI will manage match making of the Chinese and Pakistani entrepreneur s in this sector to increase the demand of Pakistani rice in the market, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021