BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 2
Trend:
The decision of Iranian government to import some 2.3 million tons of wheat was met with harsh objection from local farmers, head of Iran National Wheat Farmers Foundation Ataollah Hashemi said, Trend reports via YJC.
"Due to favorable rainfalls, we are not worried about wheat cultivation and production in the country," Hashemi said.
Noting that the area under wheat cultivation is not different from the same period last year, he added that due to increase in production efficiency, it is expected to produce 13 million tons of wheat by the end of the current Iranian year (ends on March 21, 2021).
"Iranian farmers are against the import of wheat," Hashemi said. "The government imported 2.3 million tons of wheat to provide strategic wheat reserves, but the foundation opposes this decision."
He said that the domestically produced wheat could have been used better for livestock and in the poultry sector, with proper policy making.
The head of the National Wheat Farmers Foundation said that with the formation of a new pricing working group next year, Iran doesn't need to import wheat.
He went on to say that the country has no problem with the supply of domestically made fertilizers.