The output of the non-Basmati varieties of rice that had fallen by 30 per cent to 2.5 million tonnes in marketing year 2010-11 after the super floods in July-September 2010 has made a quick comeback.

During 2013-14, combined production of Irri-6, Irri-9 and other non-Basmati varieties looks set to touch four-million-tonne mark, according to officials of Ministry of National Food Security and Research.

“This 1.5 million tonnes increase in production is a result of three years of favourable market conditions for coarse rice, the most notable being a rise in domestic prices,” says a big rice grower based in Badin, Sindh. The bulk of coarse rice is grown in Sindh and southern Punjab and during the last three years, growers there have brought more lands under the crop, often at the cost of cotton or some minor crops.

Larger production of coarse rice in the last three years has also pushed up its exports, rising from 2.56 million tonnes in FY11 to 2.68 million tonnes in FY12 and to 2.74 million tonnes in FY13. Rice exporters believe that during the current fiscal year exports of non-Basmati rice would finally return to its pre-super-floods level of 3.04 million tonnes achieved in FY10. In the first two months of July-August, the exports volume has already risen 70 per cent year-on-year to 370,000 tonnes.

“Exports of non-Basmati rice get into full swing from late October or beginning of November — a big increase before it is a sure sign we’re going to see huge growth in export volumes in the full fiscal year,” says a Karachi-based exporter of non-Basmati. “Big output last year had coincided with a moderate increase in exports in terms of volume. That had left huge carryover stocks. That’s why you see exports rising even in July-August when normally rice export volumes are supposed to remain static or show a nominal rise.”

Rice exporters say that Irri-6 alone constitutes about two-third of total exports of non-Basmati rice adding that more than 100 countries buy Pakistani coarse rice of various quality and grades. Prominent among them are, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Iran, Mauritius, Sudan, Turkey, Tanzania, Yemen and the GCC member states.

For Basmati growers it’s the per-unit price of output that matters most, but for non-Basmati growers volume is more important. In Sindh, growers who run short of cash to spend on cotton cultivation either get expensive loans from informal lenders or sell livestock.

During the last three years big growers have started diversifying into cultivation of coarse rice as a hedge against a possible decline in cotton crop. As coarse rice sowing starts in March, when growers can well estimate their cotton output and thus calculate how much money they will make out of it, they have go for additional non-Basmati rice cultivation if they think this is a better option.

An increase in prices, driven by export-led buying of coarse rice also serves as an incentive.

In addition to larger buying for exports, lately coarse rice demand has increased in domestic market as well as food processing companies are mass-producing packed brand rice. Basmati rice cultivation has suffered in recent years due to various factors including shortage of water. Since non-Basmati varieties need lesser amount of water, this factor has also supported in their growth.

“Besides, over the years, the country has been able to produce long-grain non-Basmati varieties that are in high demand in China and some African countries. The same is true for par-boiled rice with more nutritional value than simple grains,” says a former chairman of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan. He points out that one big incentive for producers of non-Basmati rice is immense demand in China adding that in the past one-and-a-half year more than a million tonnes of rice has been exported to Chinese markets. “In Far East countries, where people prefer short-grain high gluten rice, some Pakistani exporters have successfully captured a big market share. Indonesia is an example.”

Encouraged by demand for non-Basmati rice in foreign markets, researchers too have become more active in developing varieties that can be acceptable among foreign buyers. PSCIR, rice research institutes in Punjab and Sindh and even research wings at some agricultural universities are now focused on developing non-Basmati rice grains that are thick, long and aromatic. “Future rice exports would probably be more centric on non-Basmati rather than Basmati because of two reasons,” says an official of Engro Foods. “First, local consumption of Basmati is growing faster than we’d thought earlier and secondly, perennial shortage of water, high cost of inputs and disturbances in high altitude regions where Basmati is grown, particularly in KP are discouraging farmers.”

Another aspect of rice production and domestic marketing relates to springing up of hundreds of local super stores, on the lines of international chain of retail outlets. “Now you find super stores operating not only in suburbs of Karachi like North Karachi and Malir but also in rural areas. They buy several varieties of non-Basmati rice, mix up one variety with another to develop a new grade, clean them and pack them in transparent plastic bags of one to five kg and sell at high prices,” says Farid Qureshi of Karachi Retail Grocers Group.

The launching, in 2010, of a rice processing plant of Engro in Muridke, Punjab, and subsequent opening of a chain of fair price outlets of rice produced there has triggered healthy competition in rice retailing business.

The said plant has the capacity to buy 150,000 tonnes of paddy from growers and produce up to 70,000 tonnes of Basmati. People associated with rice business say that a Karachi-based chain of super stores is currently exploring the possibility of setting up a similar plant in Sindh, as a joint venture with local or foreign investors, to process and sell non-Basmati rice varieties. —Mohiuddin Aazim