Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.16 / Trend F.Karimov/
Iran has doubled the purchase of wheat from domestic farmers to 4.1 million tons, the Fars News Agency quoted Sepah Bank spokesman Mohsen Daraee as saying.
Moreover, some 500,000 tons of wheat is projected to be bought by the end of the harvest season, he added.
He said that wheat is being purchased from farmers at 8,000 rials (about 33 cents) per kilogram.
Last year, 2.44 million tons of wheat was purchased from farmers at 7,200 rials (about 29 cents) per kilogram, he noted.
On Monday, ISNA quoted agriculture ministry official Delavar Heidarpour as saying that Iran is facing budget deficit for purchasing wheat from domestic farmers at guaranteed prices and this issue could harm wheat production in the country.
Wheat farmers are disinclined to sell their output to state buyers as the administration pay them less than the figure it pays for importing wheat from abroad, he added.
So far, state buyers have purchased 4.3 million tons of wheat from farmers, while some 10 million tons of wheat have been harvested, he noted.
If the financial problem continues, the wheat yield will be declined in the coming years, he said.
The administration buys wheat at a guaranteed price of 7200 rials (about $30 cents per kilogram based on the Tehran Forex Center's USD exchange rate of 24770 rials) from farmers, but each kilogram of wheat costs over 8500 rials, another official Jasem Saedi said in June.
"The private sector buys wheat from farmers at a higher price. So, farmers prefer to sell wheat to the private sector, he noted. "The State Commerce Company imports wheat at $360-370 (8.9-9.1 million rials) per kilogram, while it does not pay more than 8500 rials."
In June, the Fars News Agency reported that the Central Bank of Iran has been authorized to allocate 70 trillion rials ($5.7 billion based on the official rate dollar of 12,260 rials) for buying wheat from domestic farmers.
The Central Bank of Iran allocated 70 trillion rials, equal to about $5.7 billion under the country's official exchange rate, for domestic wheat purchases in June.
Recent currency devaluations, tied to international sanctions and lower oil exports, are raising concerns about food security in the country, according to the FAO.
Iran's wheat harvest is almost finished and may total about 14.5 million tons, up about 5 percent from the 13.8 million tons collected a year earlier, the FAO said.
Total grain production may be 21.85 million tons, up 3.4 percent from a year earlier, including 3.2 million tons of barley and 2.4 million tons of rice.