Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- According to the multimedia center of the Ministry of Agriculture, more than 100,000 hectares of rice are grown annually in Uzbekistan. In the conditions of the republic, an average per capita per year requires 9.8 kg of rice consumption. That is, the population of the republic needs a reserve of 353,000 tons of rice for a full supply of rice products.

On the territory of the republic in 2022, 516.9 thousand tons of rice were sown on 105.8 thousand hectares, from which the net harvest amounted to 310 thousand tons. That is, 43 thousand tons less rice will be produced compared to the needs of the population (48 thousand tons more rice was grown compared to 2021).

According to the analysis, 8,000 tons of rice were imported into the republic in 2022, while 53,500 tons of rice were imported in 2023. That is, 10,000 tons more rice was imported than was consumed.

Rice imports from Kazakhstan amounted to 29.3 thousand tons (54.7%), 23.2 thousand tons (43.3%) from Pakistan, 599 tons (1.1%) from Thailand, 265 tons (0.5%) from Turkey and 126 tons (0.2%) from India and 21.1 tons (0.02%) from other countries.

Taking into account the above, we can conclude that over the past 5 years, a total of 232.6 tons of rice imports have been carried out from India to our republic.

The cessation of Indian rice exports to other countries will not have a negative impact on the Uzbek market.

For reference, India ranks 1st in the world’s largest rice export, accounting for 36.8% of total world exports, with the main exporters being African states (7.1 million tons), China (2118 thousand tons), Iran (1245 thousand tons), Saudi Arabia (1012 thousand tons) and other countries.

In the world market, as of June 2023, the average price for rice is 1.93 US dollars (22,364 UZS), the lowest is 0.52 US dollars (6,025 UZS) (Tunisia), and the maximum is 4.84 US dollars (56,086 UZS) (Serbia).

Today, the price of 1 kg of rice in the markets of Uzbekistan, depending on the variety, is sold from 11,500 to 25,000 soums (compared to the corresponding period last year, the price increased by 35.2%).

In particular, the Avangard rice variety is sold within 11,500 - 17,500 soums, the Alanga variety at a price of 16,000 - 18,500 soums, the Laser variety from 19,500 - 25,000 soums.

Also, according to the results of observation, the minimum price for rice was fixed at the “Nukus Dehkan Market” in Nukus and the “Gulistan Dehkan Market” in Gulistan (“Nukus-2” and other local varieties of rice) at the level of 11,500 soums. And the maximum price was observed at the "Farkhad dekhkan market" of the city of Tashkent, where they sold from 25,000 soums (rice of the "Laser" variety). At the same time, the minimum price of rice in this market was 13,000 UZS.

"All markets are uninterruptedly supplied with rice, and stocks are in sufficient quantities. The Ministry informs the population that they are aware that the increase in rice prices in various social networks is unfounded advertising, that this is just a speculative situation or an attempt to unreasonably increase the price of rice," the ministry concluded.