KARACHI: The agriculture and food exports jumped by 64 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal year, helping the country to narrow down its trade deficit.

The official data showed the country’s total agriculture and food exports reached $3.847 billion during July-December 2023-24 against $2.345bn in the same period last year, an increase of $1.502bn in absolute terms.

The overall merchandise exports grew 5.17pc to $14.98bn in 1HFY24 while the import fell 16.28pc to $26.13bn from $31.21bn in the corresponding period last year.

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Visibly the country depends more on agri-food to achieve a higher growth in the overall exports. It also helped reduce the trade deficit by 34.3pc to $11.14bn in the first half.

The data also shows that agri-foods could not fetch significantly higher prices compared to the growth in quantity. The biggest earnings came from the export of rice which almost doubled during the first six months.

The country exported rice worth $1.64bn during 1HFY24 against $841m in the same period last year, an increase of 96pc. The rice exports may surpass the $3bn mark during the current fiscal year.

The exporters claim that rice has great potential to earn up to $10bn provided the government supports cultivation and helps explore new markets.

In terms of quantity, the rice exports increased by 71pc while it fetched 15pc higher prices compared to the last year. Despite the good quality of rice, Vietnam and Bangladesh are ahead of Pakistan.

The export of maize more than tripled to $262m compared to $85m in the same period last year.

Another big increase was noted in the exports of sesame seeds and ethyl alcohol as they jumped by 273pc and 497pc, respectively. The exports of sesame seeds during this period rose to $364m against $98m the last year. Similarly, the export of ethyl alcohol jumped to $259m compared to $43m last year.

The meat export rose 23pc to $239m in July-December 2023-24 compared to $195m in the same period last year.

On the flip side, the export of animal or vegetable fats and oils plunged to $15m from $51m in the first half of FY23.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024