Iran: Wheat farmers receive huge funds from Iranian government

Iranian local farmers were paid another 110 trillion rials (about $2.62 billion) in exchange for wheat purchased under a guarantee in Iran (July 15 through July 22, 2023), Iranian Minister of Agriculture Jihad Mohammad Ali Nikbakht said, Trend reports.

The minister noted that more than 6 million tons of wheat worth more than 900 trillion rials (about $21.4 billion) have been purchased in the country since the beginning of the current wheat harvesting season (started in March 28, 2023).

Nikbakht added that some 550 trillion rials (about $13.1 billion) of the mentioned funds have been paid to wheat farmers by July 10, 2023. It is planned to pay the remaining funds in stages.

Overall, 13 million tons of wheat are forecasted to be harvested in Iran for the current Iranian year (March 21, 2023, through March 19, 2024). Of that amount, 8-8.5 million tons are estimated to be purchased by Iranian Government Trading Corporation (GTC).

Meanwhile, last Iranian year (March 21, 2022, through March 20, 2023), about 11.5 million tons of wheat were harvested in the country, of which 7.5 million tons were purchased by the GTC.

Last year, the price of 1 kg of wheat was set up at 115,000 rials (about $2.74), while, 1 kg of wheat is set at 150,000 rials (about $3.57) for the current season.

In total, wheat was planted on 5.95 million hectares of land in Iran in the current season. Of this, 3.96 million hectares accounted for dry-farming land, while 1.99 million hectares for ordinary agricultural land.

Tags: estimated, forecasted, purchased, Iran, wheat