KARACHI, April 17: Despite paying high prices, consumers are highly perturbed over the poor quality of rice being sold in the markets as better quality rice is being exported to various countries.

Many consumers have cut their purchasing quota to the minimum. A retailer said that consumers who purchased five kilograms at a time a few months back were buying only two kilos owing to the persistent increase in prices.

He said the dealers in Punjab, from where rice arrives here, mix low and medium qualities with premium qualities of various rice varieties at their godowns, which is evident from consumers’ rising complaints.

In the last 48 hours, the wholesale price has surged by Rs5to Rs10 per kg, depending on the quality, he said, adding that its impact would be felt at the retail level in a few days.

The federal government appears to be least bothered about the rising prices of rice coupled with the sale of inferior quality in the markets.

To control the rising prices, many countries are introducing a rationing system. Some countries, such as India, have suspended exports to meet the local demands.

In Pakistan, markets are abuzz with reports that the government is likely to impose some kind of regulatory duty on rice exports aimed at stabilizing prices.

The chairman of the Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA), Anis Majeed, said it was unfortunate that the consumers were suffering when the country had its own good crop in an excess quantity.

The government, he said, should come out with a policy to safeguard consumers’ interests otherwise rice prices would continue to go up.

He urged the government to impose a regulatory duty on exports with the minimum export price after consulting the stakeholders. However, he said there was no need to ban the commodity’s export. Imposing a regulatory duty would at least help halt the price hike.

Meanwhile, a senior official in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) in Islamabad seemed to be in favour of export of various varieties of rice in view of the rising foreign exchange earnings. He wasn’t particularly concerned about the consumers’ plight.

He said he could not confirm whether the government would introduce the rationing system or impose a duty on rice exports because the commerce ministry usually handled such cases.

“MINFAL does not want a duty imposed on exports. So far it has not proposed this to the government,” the official, who asked not to be named, told Dawn on Thursday.

He said Pakistan produced 5.5 million tons of rice out of which three million tons of rice was exported after the local consumption of 2.5 million tons.

“It is good that exporters are tapping new markets and farmers are getting a good return on their efforts,” he said, adding that even exporters were fetching a handsome price both for basmati and low varieties.

When asked why consumers were paying high prices because of exports, he said MINFAL was well aware of consumers’ concerns about rising prices.

To check rising prices and chalk out a future course of action, a meeting of the Rice Advisory Board, comprising stakeholders, growers, market people, exporters and government officials, would be held this month.

He said exporters were cashing in on the situation after low production of Indian rice followed by a ban on exports by India. However, he said that consumers had a wide choice to select the varieties as per their prices.

A price comparison from January 1, 2007 till April 2008 reveals that rice Karnal 1 and Basmati Wind are now respectively priced at Rs85 and Rs70 as compared to Rs55-60 and Rs35-40 per kg on January 1, 2007. Similarly, the price of Basmati Sela and Basmati Tota is Rs70 and Rs44 as compared to Rs52 and Rs30 per kg. Irri, selling at Rs20-22 one and a half years back, now sells at Rs35 per kg. In many markets, Basmati premium sells at Rs90 per kg as compared to Rs50-60 per kg in January 2007. Super Karnal Basmati now sells at Rs100 per kg. The leading packers of Basmati premium rice sells at Rs110 per kg.