Iran expects slight increase in domestic wheat purchases
Iran expects a slight increase in domestic wheat purchases in the harvesting season starting in April, as the government seeks to ensure the availability of the staple grain amid rising food prices in the country.
Head of the grains department at Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture Jihad (MAJ), Majid Anajafi, said on Wednesday that domestic wheat supply is expected to reach eight million metric tons (mt) during the April-August harvesting season.
The figure represents an increase of 5.2% compared with the same period last year, when the government spent 1,600 trillion rials ($1.45 billion, based on currency rates reported during and after the harvest) on domestic wheat purchases.
This comes despite the fact that Iran purchased some 11 million mt of wheat worth $3 billion from local farmers during the 2024 harvesting season.
Anajafi said the expected rise in wheat purchases would occur even though the area devoted to irrigated wheat farming in Iran has declined by 5%, while dryland farmers have reduced their cultivated area by 2%.
"We will make every effort, by supporting farmers and managing resources, to achieve the wheat production targets in the current agricultural year,” he said at a press conference.
Iranian customs figures show the country imported more than $400 million worth of wheat in the eight months to early December to offset the decline in domestic output.
The figures show that Russia accounted for more than half of Iran’s wheat imports over the period.
Anajafi also said the MAJ may revise its guaranteed purchase price for domestically grown wheat amid government plans to liberalize prices of staple foods.
The government announced in October that the purchase price for domestic wheat would rise by 40% to an average of 285,000 rials per kilogram in the 2026 harvesting season.
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