The government has purchased 6.6 million tons of wheat from domestic farmers so far this year, Tasnim News Agency quoted Mohsen Maleki, who is in charge of the project to buy wheat at guaranteed prices, as saying. He said the total purchase is valued at 70.5 trillion rials ($2.65 billion). Wheat farmers are disinclined to sell their output to state buyers as the administration pays them less than the figure it pays for importing wheat from abroad. The private sector buys wheat from farmers at a higher price and farmers prefer to sell their crops to the private sector.
