Baku, Azerbaijan, May 13
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Despite the damage caused by recent floods that hit Iran's southern provinces, it is estimated that 14 million tons of wheat will be harvested this year, Esmaeil Esfandiyarpour, advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad of Iran, told IRNA, Trend reports.
According to Esfandiyarpour, 12 million tons of the harvested wheat will be purchased by the government.
He stated that over 1.4 million tons of wheat were purchased with a guarantee in 8 provinces of Iran since the beginning of the harvest season, indicating a 24-percent increase over the previous year.
Esfandiyarpour added that the purchased wheat was worth 24 trillion rials ($571 million per the official exchange rate, $160 million in the black market).
"So far, the purchase of 1.29 million tons of wheat worth 22.25 trillion rials ($529 million per the official exchange rate, $148 million in the black market) has been recorded in the purchases database. 17.97 trillion rials ($427 million per the official exchange rate, $119 million in the black market) have been paid to farmers by the Keshavarzi Bank," he said.
The official said that 1 kg of wheat was purchased at 17,250 rials ($0.41 per the official exchange rate, $0.11 in the black market).
Esfandiyarpour added that 1 million tons of wheat were purchased in Khuzestan Province, with 115,000 tons being purchased in Bushehr Province, 105,000 tons in Ilam Province, 72,000 tons in the Kerman Province, and 55,000 tons in Fars Province.