FAISALABAD : About 438m ton rice is produced in the world Pakistan produces 6.16 million ton rice annually. A spokesman for the agriculture department told that Pakistan was exporting 3.75m ton rice every year. He said more than 4,198,456 acre land was brought under rice cultivation in Punjab last year which produced 3,460,123 ton rice. “The Rice Research Institute is developing new varieties which will not only have strong resistance against bacterial leaf blot disease but also produce high yield.”


 he added.

“In Pakistan, new hybrid rice varieties are being developed which would give maximum yield by utilizing minimum input costs during water scarcity,” he added. He said the Rice Research Institute had developed new techniques to cultivate rice through a broadcasting system instead of manual sapling plantation. Under the new technique, if farmers succeed in planting  80,000 plants in a field, they will get 6-8 maund more production besides saving input costs up to Rs 14,000 per acre. This technique is not only cheaper but also helps save 30-35 % irrigation water, he added.