KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah set up a committee under the supervision of Sindh Agriculture Minister Ali Nawaz Khan Mahar to undertake steps to promote rice cultivation, enhance capacity of rice growers and increase rice export volume.
The Sindh chief minister was presiding over a meeting with the 13-member delegation of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) who called on him led by its Chairman Rafique Suleman.
Qaim said that farmers/millers/exporters were the main organs for increasing volume of rice export and earn foreign exchange.
The committee, comprises of the Sindh Agriculture secretary and representatives of REAP, has been tasked with working out a schedule, starting from educating the rice growers through seminars, literature and mechanical exhibitions for their capacity to increase per acre production, avoid harvesting losses and introduce new but qualitative specially late varieties which are supposed to be sown at the time when water is available in rice canal.
The Sindh CM said that though export was a federal subject, he would take the issue with the ministries concerned to get the rice exporters of Sindh facilitated accordingly. He, however, directed the members of REAP also to attend the interests of the rice growers while determining the price of rice. He said that Sindh was agro-based province and more than 70% of its population depended on agri products. Shah said Sindh was rich in rice quality and added that the rice verities Basmati and non-Basmati were very much popular in the world as such there was a need of opening new windows of exports in other countries.
