Rice topped the list of imports to Iran during the five months to August 21 as more than 563,000 tons of the crop valued at $475.7 million were shipped during the period, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration data. The government has banned rice imports since July 21, as it does every year during the harvest season to support local farmers in the two northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran that are home to the majority of Iran’s paddy fields. This means shipments after the above date must have been imported on previous orders. Domestic rise production is estimated to exceed 2.1 million tons in this Iranian year (March 2016-17) – 8% over and above last year’s harvest, according to deputy agriculture minister Abbas Keshavarz. Iranians consume three million tons of rice per year.
