Source: Ukragroconsult (Ukraine)
Iraqi wheat production has reached 6.3 million tons this year, up nearly 21% from last year, marking the second year of self-sufficiency in the grain, an official said.
Haider Nuri al-Garaawi, director general of Iraq’s Grain Authority, said in a telephone interview that “exceptional” rainfall and modern irrigation techniques helped this year’s harvest.
Last year, Iraq produced about 5.2 million tons of wheat. The country’s production is highly dependent on rainfall and the amount of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
The government, which distributes 4.7 million tons of wheat annually through a subsidy program, buys the domestic wheat at almost double the world market price in order to promote the production of local farmers.
Iraq’s wheat surplus of about 1.6 million tons this year will be sold to local private flour mills, Al-Garaawi said.
Government reserves will last until April next year, so no foreign wheat will need to be imported, he said. However, private mills could import grain to meet local demand for flour, he said.
Iraq has bought wheat from the US, Australia and Canada in recent years.