Baku, Azerbaijan, July 25
Trend:
The Iranian government has bought 6.3 million tons of wheat from the country’s farmers in the current crop year so far, according to a report by the country’s agriculture ministry.
The value of the wheat bought is 83,635 billion rials (each USD makes 43,600 rials based on official rate), according to the report.
This year’s wheat purchases from local farmers at guaranteed prices has started on March 26 in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
Some 54 percent or 42,308 billion rials of the money has already been paid to the farmers.
Over 52 percent of Iran’s agricultural lands are under wheat farming. Iran’s total agricultural lands are about 12 million hectares.
The Iranian government is expected to purchase 10.5 million tons of wheat from the country’s farmers in the current crop year, started September 2017. The forecasted volume will be 1.5 million tons more than the purchase wheat in preceding year.
Every year, the government buys strategic crops, including wheat and oilseeds from local farmers at guaranteed prices to build up its strategic reserves and control prices in the domestic market.
More than 8.87 million tons of wheat worth 116 trillion rials (each US makes 42,000 rials) were purchased from Iranian farmers by the government last year. Iran’s wheat production reached 12.5 million tons in the period.
Almost 7.5 million tons of wheat is used by bakery units in Iran and the country’s food industry also needs 2.5 million tons of wheat every year.
The agriculture ministry report also said that the government has so far bought 323,537 tons of colza, worth 8,908 billion rials from the country’s farmers in the current crop year.
The government has already paid 6,724 billion rials of the money to the farmers.
The administration has also purchased 94 tons of safflower and 328 tons of sunflower from the farmers during the current crop year. The oil seeds have been purchased in some southern provinces including Sistan and Baluchestan, Fars, Kerman and Khouzestan.
The Iranian agriculture ministry plans to purchase 330,000 tons of colza from local farmers in the one-year period.
The ministry plans to increase the colza purchase to 450,000 tons in the next fiscal year (March 2019-2020), in order to decrease dependency on import of the strategic product.
Iranian officials say that domestic production of oilseeds is vital for the country in terms of saving foreign currency.
Domestic demand for raw vegetable oil stands at about 1.5 million tons per year. The agriculture ministry is planning to meet at least 70 percent of the domestic demand from local production by 2025.
Alongside colza, soybeans, safflower and sunflower seeds are being cultivated in the country.
