BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 10. The amount of wheat purchased from farmers in Iran’s Markazi Province under a guarantee since the beginning of the current wheat harvesting season in the country (started March 28, 2023) increased by 20 percent compared to the same period in the last season, Director General of Iran’s Government Trading Corporation’s branch in Markazi Province Gholamreza Maleki said, Trend reports.
The director general also said that 205,000 tons of wheat were purchased from farmers under a guarantee in the province within the mentioned period.
Maleki added that so far, 3.59 trillion rials (about $85.5 million) have been paid to farmers for the purchased wheat.
"At present, there are 28 centers operating in the province for guaranteed wheat purchasing. Guaranteed purchases of wheat in the province will last until the end of the 6th month of the current Iranian year (September 22, 2023)," he noted.
Overall, 13 million tons of wheat are forecast to be harvested in Iran for the current Iranian year (March 21, 2023, through March 19, 2024). Of that amount, 8–8.5 million tons are estimated to be purchased by the Iranian Government Trading Corporation (GTC).
Meanwhile, last Iranian year (March 21, 2022, through March 20, 2023), about 11.5 million tons of wheat were harvested in the country, of which 7.5 million tons were purchased by the GTC.
Last year, the price of 1 kg of wheat was set at 115,000 rials (about $2.74), while 1 kg of wheat is set at 150,000 rials (about $3.57) for the current season.
In total, wheat was planted on 5.95 million hectares of land in Iran in the current season. Of this, 3.96 million hectares accounted for dry-farming land, while 1.99 million hectares were ordinary agricultural land.
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