By Muhammad Asad Tahir Bhawana ISLAMABAD, April 18 (INP-WealthPK): In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2022, Pakistan’s exports of rice rose by 17.5% to $423 million, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Rice production stood at 8.8 million tonnes in FY22 Kharif (April-June to October-December) season. This production is higher than the target of 8.2 million tonnes and 5% more than the last year's, the SBP shows. The month-on-month (MoM) report of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) shows that the value of rice exports reached $252.666 million in February 2022, compared to $220.078 million in the previous month, showing a rise of 17.5%. Furthermore, the year-on-year (YoY) data shows that the value of rice exports reached $1.539 billion during July- February FY22 compared to  $1.337 billion during the corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of 15%. Data also shows that the Basmati rice exports recorded the highest growth with an increase of 30.93% in the YoY report. The expansion of rice exports is supported by the rising trend of the area under rice cultivation. For the last couple of years, especially in Punjab, rice has become the most promising crop for formers because of higher local prices and expanding external demand. The rising demand for Pakistan’s rice in the export market amid competitive unit prices made rice cultivation profitable in the country. As the local production of rice rises from the yearly target of 3.7 million tonnes, Pakistan is left with an exportable surplus. This is why global demand and price play an important role in determining the production level. Another reason for the upsurge in rice exports is that the exports to Beijing also rose by 3.9% to $132.59 million in the first two months of 2022, as reported by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC). During the first two months of 2022, the bilateral trade with China increased expressively. China imported 347,437 tonnes of rice from Pakistan, increasing by 18%. In the same period last year, exports of rice to China were 294,240 tonnes worth $127.60 million. Badaruz Zaman, Commercial Counsellor at the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing, stated that Pakistan will reach its target of one million tonnes of rice exports to China this year. "Within a few years, we will be the largest rice exporter to China," he said. Shamsul Islam Khan, former vice president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), stated that the reason for the increase in exports of rice to China is that China accepted the broken rice without any quota, at a duty rate of just 10%, and the Chinese hybrid seed promotion increased production in Pakistan.