Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 12
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
So far, eight million tons of wheat have been purchased from farmers during the harvesting season in Iran, Iran's Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati told journalists, Trend reports referring to IRNA.
According to him, the public sector has not been able to make substantial purchases due to the foothold the intermediaries have in this field.
Hojjati added that wheat production was good this year due to the doubling of rainfall in Iran. "However, there has been a decline of 1.5-2 million tons in wheat purchases in comparison to the same period of the previous year," he said.
With the devaluation national currency and the rise in prices for certain essential goods in Iran last year, intermediaries buy wheat from farmers at rates higher than the state price.
In Iran, a number of agricultural products including, among others, wheat, rice and tea, are purchased with a guarantee by the state from farmers.