There are two main crop seasons Kharif and Rabi in Pakistan. Wheat, cotton, rice, barley, bajra, jowar, maize, gram, sugar cane, rapeseed, mustard, sesamum, oil seeds and tobacco fall in the category of major crops. Wheat is the staple food of the people and thus occupies central position in farming policies. Its share in total cropped area is around 37.1 percent. Output is estimated at 15,154 thousand tonnes per crop season.
Rice is highly valued cash crop that earns substantial foreign exchange for the country.
Despite the relative prices having favoured the highly yielding varieties, farmers traditionally grow Basmati. Basmati is confined to Punjab while other varieties are sown in all the provinces. Sugar cane is another cash crop. The latest estimates place its area under cultivation at 2,711 thousands ectares and production at 8,000 thousands bales annually. The agriculture policy of the government aims at increasing development and promotion of the sector.