Based on the said report, Iranian farmers managed to produce 13 million tons of wheat in 2022, 2.9 million tons more than the figure for the previous year in which the total production stood at 10.1 million tons, IRNA reported.

According to FAO, Iran was the world’s 14th largest wheat producer in 2021.

The organization has also predicted that Iran will produce 13 million tons of wheat in 2023, which will not change compared to 2022.

Despite concerns about the impact of the Ukraine war on the world’s agricultural production in 2022, the world’s wheat production this year increased by two percent compared to the previous year and reached 794 million tons. In 2021, the total wheat production in the world was estimated at 778 million tons.

China was the largest wheat producer in 2022 with a production of 137.7 million tons, followed by the European Union with 134.5 million tons and India with 106.8 million tons.

Russia, the U.S., Australia, Canada, Pakistan, Ukraine, Turkey, the UK, and Kazakhstan were placed higher than Iran and ranked fourth to twelfth.

In a previous report released in June 2022, FAO saw cereal production in Iran to grow 34.2 percent in 2022, while the imports of such products were seen to drop 25 percent.

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“Although our strategic wheat stocks are currently in good condition, it must be put on the agenda to meet the future needs through imports,” Zabihollah A’zami told IRNA on Friday.

According to the Agriculture Ministry data, so far 4,463,000 tons of wheat have been purchased from farmers, which is expected to reach a maximum of 4,600,000 tons, A’zami said, adding that this year’s production is significantly lower than the previous year.

The official further put the country’s minimum demand for wheat in the current year at six million tons and stressed: “latest statistics show that the country may need to import eight million tons of wheat this year.”

In recent years, due to self-sufficiency in wheat production and the supply of this strategic product by domestic farmers, wheat imports have been banned.

Iran’s wheat production exceeded 14 million tons in the previous Iranian calendar year 1399.

Over the past few years, the Agriculture Ministry has been implementing several programs for improving wheat production in the country.

Providing seed, pesticides, expert consultations, and technical supervision, as well as damage control programs like weed control, have been among the ministry’s programs for boosting wheat production.

The wheat harvest season is approximately 4.5 months in Iran starting in early April up to mid-August.

Based on the agriculture ministry data, Iranian farmers produced nearly 14.5 million tons of wheat in the Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended on March 20, 2020), 1.2 million tons more than the figure for its preceding year.

Iran’s wheat harvest has been enough to make the county self-sufficient in the production of this strategic crop over the past five years.

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Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Jihad Kazem Khavazi said on Tuesday that the government would guarantee to buy wheat from farmers at 50,000 rials ($0.28) per kilogram this season.

The price is double the rate used by the government for guaranteed purchase during the last harvest season, Khavazi told reporters as he defended his ministry’s policy on guaranteed purchase of strategic crops.

The minister said this year’s price would encourage farmers to expand area dedicated to wheat in the autumn cultivation season.

He described it as “the pillar of agriculture” in Iran, saying double increase in wheat price would encourage more farming of rice and sugarcane, the two other crops designated by the government as key to food security in Iran.

The Iranian government would buy up to 8.25 million tons from an expected output of 12 million tons of locally produced wheat this year, said Khavazi, adding that some 412.5 trillion rials ($1.725 billion) would be spent on the guaranteed purchase scheme, double the amount spent last year.

Wheat cultivation is responsible for nearly 80 percent of dry farming in Iran while the crop is also cultivated in a significant portion of irrigated lands across the country.

Khavazi said the government would continue to support local farmers in the years to come despite its policy to keep imports from Russia and other countries.

“Iranians receive some 42% of the protein they need from wheat which is a considerable figure,” he said.

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Esmaeil Esfandiarpour the manager of the Agricultural Jihad Ministry’s wheat production project and an advisor to the agriculture minister, added wheat harvest in the country has already begun in Bushehr Province (southern Iran) and Sistan and Baluchestan Province (southeastern Iran) concurrently, IRNA reported.

He added the crop’s harvest will soon begin in the provinces of Fars (southern Iran), Khuzestan (southwestern Iran) and Kerman (southern Iran), saying by April 19, wheat harvest will start in all areas of the country with an arid climate.

Putting at four and a half months the entire duration of wheat harvest in Iran, Esfandiarpour noted that harvest of the crop will start in Iranian regions with temperate and cold climates as of June 4 and August 5 respectively.

Expressing satisfaction with the favorable precipitation in the country (225 millimeters) since the beginning of the current agricultural year (that started on September 23, 2019), he hoped that this year would be an on-year.

Esfandiarpour said over six million hectares in the country are under wheat cultivation, of which over four million are dryland farms.

The official added 18,000 combine harvesters are ready to begin wheat harvest in the country.

Esfandiarpour stressed that wheat harvest cannot be stopped due to the coronavirus spread in the country as the crop is the chief ingredient of people’s main food.

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