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Iran to ban wheat import from March 2016

Business Materials 1 February 2016 12:36 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 1

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Iran plans to ban the imports of wheat, starting from March 2016, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Feb. 1.

In a letter to Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the Islamic Republic's agriculture minister, Mahmoud Hojjati announced that the ban will be imposed from the beginning of the next fiscal year (March 21).

The letter reads that there is no need for wheat import in the next fiscal year.

Wheat shared 2.9 percent of Iran's $33.843 billion worth of overall imports during the first 10 months of current Iranian fiscal year((March 21, 2015-Jan. 21, 2016).

The government bought eight million tons of wheat from farmers in the current Iranian fiscal year, 40 percent up compared to the preceding year.

Iran has set the target of achieving wheat self-sufficiency in three to four years. Wheat is the dominant crop cultivated in Iran, accounting for almost 70 percent of aggregate cereal production.

Irrigated wheat covers almost one-third of the total wheat area. As a result, the bulk of the wheat crop depends on the performance of seasonal precipitation. Most of the rain-fed wheat crop is concentrated in the northwestern part of Iran.

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