Azerbaijan, Baku, April 5, D.Khatinoglu/
The head of Farming Pattern Group of Iran's Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture Delavar Heidarpour said that Iranians consume about 3 million tons rice annually, Mehr News Agency reported.
Heidarpour asid that every Iranian citizen consumes averagely 36 kg of rice per year.
Iran relies on imports for about 45 pct of its annual rice consumption of 2.9 million tonnes, according to U.S. Dept. of Agriculture data.
After imposing tight sanctions over Iran's banking system by the U.S., some of Iranian rice suppliers faced problems in payments.
Reuters reported on Feb.7 that Iran's debts to Indian rice companies have reached $144 million in last two months.
Earlier, Uruguayan Agriculture Minister Tabare Agerre announced his country's readiness to supply rice to Iran in exchange for oil. Uruguay exported 90,000 tons of rice to Iran in 2011.