Pakistan, March 9 -- Pakistan's rice exports witnessed a significant decline during the July-December period, with export earnings dropping to $0.97 billion from $1.83 billion amid rising competition with India, according to documents presented in parliament by the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry acknowledged that Pakistan's rice exports have nearly halved, reflecting growing challenges for the country in the international market.

According to the official documents, the quantity of rice exports from Pakistan declined by 36.6 percent, while basmati rice exports fell by 32.3 percent in value terms and 33.8 percent in volume.

The Ministry of Commerce attributed the decline largely to India's return to the global basmati market, which...