TEHRAN, Iran, Aug.4
Trend:
Iran has reached self-sufficiency in wheat production, Public Relations Manager in Ministry of Agriculture Sasan Valizadeh told Trend.
"Self-sufficiency in wheat production was set on the government's agenda. Wheat production reached 14 million tons through technical and administrative support of the Agriculture Ministry and hard works of farmersy," Valizadeh said.
The PR manager noted that this policy has been pursued during past five years and is one of government's achievements. Iran's wheat production reach 7.1 million tons in last Iranian year (started March 21, 2019) and is predicted be the same in the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2020).
"The government has currently purchased around 6.5 million tons of wheat from farmers which was 9 percent more comparing to the last Iranian year and delivered it to silos," he said. "The harvest will last until early September and purchasing wheat from farmers will continue to November 20."
"We welcome any assigned budget to continue self-sufficiency in wheat production, pay for the costs to develop new cultivation methods, and purchase new machinery and pesticides to improve production quality and increase farmers' income," Valizadeh added.
"The government imported around 6 million tons of wheat in 2013, but in recent years, domestic wheat production has supplied all the country's needs," he said. "The import is limited to supply strategic reserves that are part of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade. The Ministry of Agriculture is solely responsible for wheat production."
Iranian president has recently confirmed that the country's wheat and food supplies are secure as the agriculture sector has not been impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.