Low exports, grower woes mar paddy season

He directed officials to guide farmers on modern harvesting techniques, ensure safe use of pre-harvest pesticides and promote machine harvesting to reduce crop losses.The official narrative, however, does not fully match the numbers coming out of the sector.

According to the latest US Department of Agriculture's grain outlook, Pakistan's rice exports for the current marketing year are projected at 4.8 million tons, about 8% lower than last year.The decline is attributed to a stronger rupee, costlier export financing, regulatory hurdles and intensifying competition from India, which has removed its minimum export price on Basmati.

Basmati prices had averaged around $1,100 per ton through mid-year, but exportable stocks have been thinning since April.On the environmental front, the secretary reiterated that the government's strategy to curb air pollution from crop-residue burning was being implemented "as formulated," and pointed to 10,000 subsidised super seeders distributed to farmers to encourage residue management over burning.Independent estimates, though, suggest the scale of the problem remains large.

Researchers tracking crop-residue burning in Pakistan's wheat-rice belt, which covers more than 80% of Punjab's cropped area, estimate that between 3.6 and 5 million tons of rice residue out of a total of 8.5 million tons are still burnt each winter, contributing to air quality that costs Pakistanis an average of 4.3 years of life expectancy.A farmer associated with a growers' body in central Punjab, speaking on condition of anonymity,….

The Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan was urged by the secretary to play a more active role in expanding access to global markets, but the association's representatives at the meeting did not publicly respond to questions about the financing and currency pressures cited in trade data. This material may not….

Low exports, grower woes mar paddy season Updated 3 minutes ago Secretary advocates safe use of pesticides, machine harvesting to reduce crop losses.