Iran Wheat Reserves Hit 12m Tons

EghtesadOnline: Iran’s wheat reserves currently stand at 12 million tons, 6 million tons of which belong to last year’s harvest, the head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Wheat Project said.

News ID: ۷۷۷۶۸۱

16 July 2017

“More than 6 million tons of wheat worth 78 trillion rials ($2.06 billion) have been purchased from local farmers across the country so far in the current crop year,” Esmaeil Esfandiarpour was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency. Khouzestan, Golestan and Fars top the list of provinces from where the purchases have been made. A record high of 14 million tons of wheat were domestically produced last year, more than 11.76 million tons of which worth over $4 billion were purchased by the government from local farmers at guaranteed prices. This helped Iran achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production after about a decade. “Wheat production is estimated to decline by 6-7% in the current Iranian year that started on March 21,” Mohammad Ali Baghestani, the head of Plant Protection Organization of Iran, said in June. “This will be a result of the decrease in precipitation as well as the sunn pest that has infested some rain-fed farms.”  Baghestani noted that despite the decline in production, hopes are high that wheat self-sufficiency will be attained this year as in the previous year, according to Financial Tribune.