Rice production registered 7.31 million tons during 2017-18 which is 7.2 per cent more than the target set by the government.
According to official sources, the government set production target of rice at 6.818 million tons at an area of 2.786 million hectares of land across the country, however the production remained 7.2 per cent higher.
The break-up figures show that in Punjab the government set target for 3.5 million tons of productions at an area of 1.8 million hectares of land however the production remained 3.742 million tons at an area of 1.823 million hectares of land, showing an increase of 6.9 per cent .
Similarly, in Sindh, 2.85 million tons of the crop was produced at an area of 822,000 hectares against the target of 2.6 million tons at an area of 750,000 hectares.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, production of 159,000 tons of rice was achieved compared to the target of 144,000 tons, however, the Balochistan produced 3 per cent less crop as its production remained 557,000 tons compared to the target of 574,000 tons. The rice experts attributed increase in rice production to revival of rice prices in the international market. They said 2015-16 was not a good year for rice growers as prices plunged to very low level during the year which resulted in less production in the next year.