Iran is importing no wheat three years after it used to import 7 million tons of the crop, according to a senior official with the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad (MAJ).
Sohrab Sohrabi said on Tuesday that Iran’s self-sufficiency in wheat production has been a result of balanced use of pesticides, promotion of modern irrigation systems, increased use of genetically modified seeds and increasing the area under mechanized cultivation.
The increased crop yields also owe to a national plan for surging rain-fed production, the official said.
Citing remarks by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei about the significance of food security and self-sufficiency in wheat production, he said that the country’s wheat output has increased to 15 million tons from 9 million tons three years ago.
He also referred to a national plan for guaranteed purchase of wheat produced by domestic farmers, noting that an almost 12 million tons of wheat has so far been purchased from domestic producers.
The official added that three provinces of Khuzestan, Kordestan and Golestan were ranked the first Iranian provinces in terms of wheat production respectively in this crop year.