Floods damage 3.2 mln ha of crops in Pakistan-FAO

MILAN Aug 25 (Reuters) - Pakistan's worst floods in decades have damaged at least 3.2 million hectares of crops, including rice, maize, cotton and sugarcane and will hit rice exports from the country, the United Nations' food agency said on Wednesday.

Following flood damage to infrastructure, forecasts for 2010 calendar year exports of rice -- a major crop and export item -- have been cut to 3 million tonnes, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a report, citing preliminary estimates.

Rice crops in Pakistan had been expected to be just over 10 million tonnes before the floods, FAO said, adding that the country normally has an exportable surplus of rice accounting for about one-third of domestic production.

The crop areas lost or damaged because of the floods represent about 14 percent of the total crop area, it said. (Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova)