Pakistan’s rice growers complain of ‘unjustified deductions’ by millers

Paddy harvesting started only last month in the lower Sindh region, and farmers — mostly small landholders — are already complaining about “unjustified deductions” by rice millers. While the Lower Sindh region has been growing restless for quite some time, the Sindh agriculture department has not yet offered any relief via enforcing or ensuring quality parameters on farmers and millers. Rice cultivation figures (2,103,608 acres or 851,300 hectares) in 2025 surpassed the sowing target of 1,976,843 acres or 800,000 ha in Sindh. Lower Sindh districts, including Tando Mohammad Khan, Badin, Sujawal and Thatta, are known paddy-growing areas, though the crop is also cultivated in regions along the left bank of the River Indus, where rice sowing has always been banned by the government. The present deductions by rice millers are being linked to moisture content in the crop. During the milling process, mill owners produce regular rice with a certain ratio of broken rice as well. Based on ...