In Pakistan, rice is an important food as well as cash crop. After wheat, it is the second main staple food crop and second major exportable commodity after cotton. During 2017-18 area cultivated under rice crop has increased by 6.4 percent to 2,899 thousand hectares compared to 2,724 thousand hectares of the corresponding period of last year. The production of rice reached historically high level of 7,442 thousand tons against the production of 6,849 thousand tons and recorded an increase of 8.7 percent over production of last year. Rice accounts for 3.1 percent in the value added in agriculture and 0.6 percent of GDP. Rice area increased due to higher domestic prices and availability of inputs on subsidized rates, good advisory along with increase in export, which made rice cultivation attractive for growers.
