Tehran, Iran–Iran has reported a large increase in its purchases of domestically-grown wheat in the months of April and May.
Saeid Raad, CEO of Government Trading Corporation (GTC) of Iran, said on Saturday that wheat purchases in seven provinces with warm climate in south and southeastern Iran had reached some 1 million metric tons (mt) in more than a month to early April.
Raad said the figure is an increase of 32% compared to the same period in 2022, Press TV reported.
The official said Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan had accounted for 623,000 mt of wheat supply delivered to GTC silos over the 37 days to May 3, adding that output in provinces of Kerman and Fars, in southeast and south of Iran, had also increased compared to April-May last year.
Iran buys a bulk of its domestically grown wheat under a guaranteed purchase program which offers farmers a series of favorable prices and transport conditions.
Authorities in the GTC, which is a subsidiary of Iran’s agriculture ministry, expect domestic wheat purchases in the country could increase by 13% to 8.5 million mt this year.
Iran’s total wheat output reached 13 million mt last year, up from 10.1 million mt in 2021, according to figures by United Nations food agency FAO.
That comes as the GTC bought some 7.2 million mt of wheat from domestic farmers last year while wheat purchases by private buyers reached 0.3 million mt over the same period.