FY24 crop goals set higher by government
Published on: October 13, 2023.
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Pakistan’s Caretaker Government Sets Farming Targets for FY 2023-24
The interim administration in Pakistan has determined growth objectives for some of the country’s primary crops for the fiscal year 2023-24. The production target for wheat is set at 32.12 million metric tons, cotton at 11.5 million bales, and rice at 8.64 million metric tons.
According to estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), rice output in Pakistan is likely to be approximately 9 million tons in FY24. This is an encouraging prospect for Pakistan rice exporters and rice suppliers in the country.
Furthermore, USDA predicted a wheat yield of 28 million tonnes, which is notably more than the previous year’s output and surpasses the five-year average for Pakistan (2018-2022).
In addition, the estimated corn (maize) production is 10.5 million tonnes, cotton yield is 6.5 million bales, sugar estimate is 7.8 million tonnes, and rapeseed (canola) output is 540,000 tonnes for 2023/24.
This outlook offers a sigh of relief for Pakistan’s rice farmers who suffered immense losses due to the catastrophic floods of 2022.
Moreover, the recent prohibition by India on non-basmati rice exports is expected to favour rice exporters from Pakistan, as they can fetch higher prices on the global market.
On a related note, for FY24, the government has assigned an annual agriculture credit disbursement target of Rs 2.25 trillion to the financial institutions, in an effort to meet the agriculture credit demand in the country. To put things into perspective, in FY23, the government disbursed a total of Rs 1.776 trillion.
