Shift towards imported hybrid seeds is shrinking Basmati acreage, weakening export capacityBasmati. Pakistan's Basmati export surplus is shrinking – not because international demand has weakened, but because domestic production is no longer keeping pace. Unlike open-pollinated varieties, hybrid seeds cannot be saved and replanted. If, for geopolitical, maritime or logistical reasons, the Malacca Straits were disrupted, Pakistan's hybrid seed supply would cease immediately. Allowing hybrids to cannibalise basmati lands, ignoring strategic seed vulnerability, and compensating the fallout through rebates reflect not policy coherence but policy drift.

Source: The Express Tribune February 02, 2026 04:15 UTC