RAZA KHAN ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (INP-WealthPK) Pakistan’s agro food sector has shown substantial progress in exports during the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year 2021-22, registering a growth of 26% against the same period last year. Exports were recorded $1.019 billion in Q1 of the current fiscal year 2021-22, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) said in its quarterly report on the country’s international trade. Exports of agro food sector were recorded $808 million in Q1 of the last fiscal year 2020-21, while export of rice, fruits, vegetables, spices, oil seeds, meat and meat-products surged by 18%, 22%, 19%, 16%, 983% and 4% respectively. The agro food sector contributed 17% to the country’s exports in Q1. The current structure of agro-based exports mainly consists of rice, meat, fruit and vegetables, fish, tobacco, spices, oil seeds and nuts, horticulture and livestock. A significant increase of 18% in the export of rice has been observed in Q1 of 2021-22. Rice export was recorded $423 million in Q1 of 2021-22 compared to $360 million in July-September 2020-21, says the report. The quantity of the rice export has increased and recorded 0.734 million tonnes during the first quarter compared to 0.619 million tonnes exported during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. In a significant development, Russia has allowed import of rice from Pakistan. The Russian government has approved import of rice from four Pakistani export groups located in Karachi, Lahore and Chiniot. Moreover, China is emerging as a new market for Pakistani non-basmati rice varieties. Other major export destinations of rice include East Africa, Gulf region and European Union (EU). Pakistan’s fruit and vegetables exports have also shown substantial increase in Q1. Due to COVID-19, this sector suffered challenges hitting the farmers hard in 2020 bringing poor returns. However, the situation has improved and exports of fruit sector have shown positive performance in this quarter. Export of fruits registered a growth of 22% and exports of vegetable posted an increase of 19% compared to Q1 of the last fiscal year. Pakistan’s meat exports have increased from $75 million in Q1 of last fiscal year to $78 million in Q1 of the current year, registering a growth of 3.8%. The meat exports include raw and frozen beef, mutton, lamb, and chicken, while export of by-products includes skin, bones, horns and hooves, gelatin etc. Exports of meat and meat products are largely concentrated in the Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Export of meat is also increasing to countries and regions such as Maldives, Vietnam and Hong Kong SAR. The Malaysian government has allowed a third Pakistani meat exporter after approving two others last year. The TDAP’s report says that meat exports have had a gradual growth over a period, with new markets being opened through market players working to comply with the food standards of various exporting countries. The exporters are bringing advanced machinery and new practices to Pakistan. Exports of fish have shown a decline in Q1 of 2021-22 dropping by 27% compared to the seafood export in the same period of the previous year.