Wheat Production Estimated to Decline

Wheat production is estimated to decrease by 6-7% in the current Iranian year that started on March 21, the head of Plant Protection Organization of Iran said.

“This will be a result of the decrease in precipitation as well as the sunn pest that has infested some rain-fed farms,” Mohammad Ali Baghestani was also quoted as by saying Mehr News Agency.

Baghestani noted that despite this decline in production, hopes are high that wheat self-sufficiency will be attained this year just like in the previous year.

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.

“So far this year, 2.8 million tons of the grain worth 31.65 trillion rials ($847.2 million) have been purchased from farmers across the country by the Government Trading Corporation of Iran,” said Esmaeil Esfandiarpour, the executive manager of “Wheat Project”–the government program to purchase the crop from farmers at a guaranteed price. The southern Khuzestan Province with more than 1.63 million tons tops the list of provinces from where purchases were made. It was followed by Golestan, Fars, Kerman and Ilam provinces with 458,000 tons, 325,000 tons, 177,000 tons and 172,000 tons of purchases respectively, IRNA reported.

GTC is a government-owned company specializing in the purchase, import and distribution of essential foodstuff. It is the lever for enforcing market controls.

The company is also in charge of maintaining a supply of wheat, rice, cooking oil and meat, as the country’s strategic reserve of essential commodities.