Rice production ~9.99m tonnes, up 2.8%.
Source
Pakistan Economic Survey — https://finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_26/Highlights_of_the_PES_2026.pdf. Verified in source set / retroactive normalization pending.
What it proves
Useful for agriculture/export/food-security discussion.
What it does not prove: This is tonnage, not value: a 2.8% rise in output translates into export earnings only through world prices, grade and marketable surplus, none of which the volume figure captures. At 2.8% the increase also barely exceeds 2.07% population growth, so the domestic surplus available for export is not expanding as fast as the headline suggests.
Memory hook: 9.99m tonnes → a 2.8% rise in volume, not necessarily in export earnings
Rebuts the claim: "Pakistan's exportable agricultural base collapsed along with cotton" — rice output still rose 2.8% to nearly 10m tonnes in FY2025-26.