As much as 12 million metric tons (mt) of wheat is expected to be produced by Iranian farmers in the current crop year, according to a person with the knowledge of the matter.
Underlining the significance of meeting the country’s needs for wheat as one of the most strategic basic goods, Ataollah Fatemi, the head of Iran’s National Wheat Growers Foundation, said that part of the issue of wheat is related to production and another part relies on the sales.
He added that production of wheat depends on weather conditions and precipitations and differs from one year to another year and from one province to another.
Iran has nearly 4 million hectares of rain-fed farms and 2 million hectares of farms under irrigation, Fatemi said, adding that in irrigating cultivation, production is made with as few as 5% fluctuation while the rain-fed cultivations depend highly on precipitations and weather conditions.
“This year, the cultivation situation was good and it is expected to harvest nearly 12 million tons of wheat,” he noted.
He said that the lion’s share of the country’s output goes to the bakeries which accounts for 11 million tons of the crop produced domestically or imported into the country.