A total of 11.5 million tons of wheat were produced on 4.9 million hectares of farms across Iran during the last crop year (September 2021-22), registering a 45% rise compared with the previous year, according to the manager of the Agriculture Ministry’s “Wheat Project”.
“The reason for the rise is that the government increased its guaranteed purchase prices by 130% last year. The Agriculture Ministry reduced prices of inputs, including fertilizers and pesticides, by 50%. These measures encouraged farmers to cultivate the staple grain on their land,” Sohrab Sohrabi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Considered a staple in Iran, wheat is purchased every crop year by the government to build up its reserves and supply the market over time.
The official noted that this crop year, wheat has been planted on over 1.58 million hectares of irrigated and 3.48 million hectares of rain-fed land so far and the overall figure is estimated to reach 6 million hectares.
Cultivation is currently in progress in Khuzestan, Fars, Bushehr, Ilam, Hormozgan, Kermanshah, Ardabil, Golestan, Mazandaran, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman, Yazd and Isfahan provinces.
“Wheat harvest is estimated to yield more than 12 million tons this year, of which the government will purchase around 9 million tons,” he said.
According to Sohrabi, domestic demand for wheat stands at 13.5 million tons per year, such that 10 million tons are used to supply bread, 2 million tons are earmarked for industrial purposes (pasta, biscuit, pastry production), around 1.2 million tons are used for seeds and the rest is used by villagers and nomads.
“Only 17% of the agricultural land across the world are under wheat cultivation, yet in Iran the figure stands at 50%,” he said, adding that Iranians get 40% of their daily energy from wheat on average, while the global share stands at 20%.
Government Trading Corporation’s CEO Saeed Rad said earlier this month that about 4 million tons of wheat were imported into Iran during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Nov. 21).
“Our wheat reserves have increased by 2 million tons this year, which means a 40% year-on-year rise,” he was quoted as saying by ILNA.
GTC, affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry, is in charge of ensuring an adequate supply of essential goods, including wheat, rice, cooking oil, sugar and meat, to the local market.
“Iran has imported 96.48 million tons of wheat worth $22.84 billion over the past 30 years,” a former spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Rouhollah Latifi, was quoted as saying by ILNA recently.
“The highest volume of imports was registered in the fiscal 2014-15 with 7.43 million tons, 2021-22 with 7.07 million tons and 2001-02 with 6.77 million tons. The lowest volume of only 360 tons was registered in the fiscal 2018-19.”
Private Imports Allowed
The private sector has been allowed to place orders for wheat imports by the government as of Aug. 23 after seven years of banning wheat imports by private traders, according to the head of the Agriculture and Food Processing Commission of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
“In a meeting with first vice president around three months ago, we made our request for the private sector to be allowed to be active in the field of wheat imports. Fortunately, our request was accepted and later the government’s Economic Council agreed to give us the permit. Now a directive allowing private businesses to import different types of wheat has been communicated to provinces across the country,” Kaveh Zargaran was also quoted as saying by the news portal of TCCIM.
The official noted that every year domestic wheat harvest comes to an end in September, so the grain’s import cannot hurt local farmers at this time.
FAO Forecast
Wheat production in Iran is forecast by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to rise from an estimated 10.4 million tons in 2021 to 13 million tons in 2022, with the 2018-20 annual average at 14.3 million tons.
Imports are forecast to decline from an estimated 7.9 million tons in 2021-22 to 5 million tons in 2022-23, with the 2018-20 annual average at 5 million tons.
FAO has recorded no wheat exports from Iran throughout the surveyed periods.
Total utilization is expected to increase from an estimated 16.2 million tons in 2021-22 to 15.5 million tons in 2022-23, with the 2018-20 annual average at 16.5 million tons.
Stocks volume are forecast to increase from an estimated 8.5 million tons by the end of 2022 to 9.4 million tons by the end of next year, with the 2019-21 annual average at 6.4 million tons.
Per capita consumption is forecast to rise from 163.8 kilograms/year in 2021-22 to 164.9 million tons in 2022-23, with the 2018-20 annual average at 161.7 million tons.
One of Mideast’s Biggest Storage Capacity
Iran’s wheat storage capacity currently stands at 21.41 million tons, making it one of the Middle East’s largest, according to the Government Trading Corporation of Iran.
The silos, located in 158 regions across the country, include metal, concrete and mechanized storages with a capacity of 18.01 million tons of wheat for long-term periods and simple semi-mechanized storages with a capacity of 3.4 million tons of the grain for short-term periods, IRNA reported.
GTC says Iran’s demand for wheat storage is close to 11 million tons per year, adding that the surplus storage capacity is used as terminal for temporary imports and redistribution to regional countries, creating revenues and job opportunities for the country.
