LAHORE: The Punjab Seed Council has appr­oved two new basmati rice varieties with a 50 per cent higher yield than those presently under cultivation. The new varieties have the potential to produce 60 to 65 maunds per acre against the current average yield of 40-45 maunds per acre. Rice Exporters Assoc­iation of Pakistan (Reap) Founder Chairman Sha­hzad Ali Malik told the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday that the improved yield would help produce surplus production, pushing export earnings from $4 billion this year to $10bn by 2030. He hoped the new varieties would also help in checking the invasion of hybrid coarse varieties into the central Punjab’s basmati-producing belt, which has already lost up to 15pc acreage to the hybrid rice. Malik Faisal Jahangir took over as new Reap chairman from outgoing Chela Ram Kewlani at the AGM for 2024-26. He pledged to cross the $5bn rice export mark within a year.