LAHORE: Exporters of local agricultural products have proposed a barter trade agreement between Islamabad and Tehran to bypass US-trade sanctions imposed against Iran.

“The government may soon enter into a barter trade agreement with Iran for importing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) against export of Pakistani rice,” claims Shahzad Ali Malik, chief executive of a local agriculture research and services company.

He tells Dawn here on Wednesday that Iran is the biggest market of Basmati rice after Saudi Arabia that needs to be protected for the sake of local farming community and exporters.

He says as Islamabad and Tehran do not have any currency swap treaty, the rice exporters have proposed barter trade between the two neighbouring countries for importing LPG against Basmati rice exports to bypass the US-imposed sanctions on trade with Iran in dollars.

Mr Malik claims the federal commerce authorities have promised a positive outcome soon in this respect.

Responding to a query, he says there is a need for more production and supplies to explore new markets for achieving the target of $5 billion rice exports in the next five years and that hybrid seed can offer the enhanced yield opportunity in the face of water shortage and climate change problems.

He claims that his research company, Guard, has reached close to the target of developing a hybrid Basmati rice variety with average grain length of 8mm, as per demand of the international market, which will give on an average 80 maunds (3,200kgs) per acre yield.

The Basmati variety, he says, will be heat and drought tolerant to counter the challenge of climatic change, adding that it will be commercialised within a couple of years.

The company has already developed hybrid coarse (Irri) varieties for Sindh where these are giving up to 120 maunds per acre yield.

Meanwhile, the Founder Group led by Shahzad Malik swept the Corporate and Associate class seats of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan managing committee elections for 2019-20.

Shahjahan Malik, Khalid Mahmood, Ahsan Saeed and Fahad Jahangir were elected unopposed in Corporate Class and Ishfaq Ali Khan in Associate Class from the north zone.

Incumbent REAP office-bearers Safder Mehkri, Ali Hussam Asghar and Pir Nazim Shah have congratulated the newly-elected leaders.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2019