Iraq to increase wheat production by 60% in 2023

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq plans to increase its wheat production by about 60 percent this year, while continuing to rely on imports to meet domestic demand.

Iraq is expected to produce 3.5 million tons of wheat this year, compared to about 2.2 million tons last year, Haider Nouri, director of the Iraqi Grain Board, told Bloomberg.

Nouri explained that Iraq would also seek to buy at least 50 thousand tons of wheat this month through a tender.

Iraqi farmers began harvesting wheat and will start storing it in silos of the Ministry of Trade on Tuesday as the government buys local production of wheat at nearly double the world price to encourage local farmers to produce.

The Iraqi government runs a food support program that includes distributing 4.6 million tons of wheat annually.

Last year, Iraq bought one million tons of wheat to compensate for the shortfall in production, which depends largely on rain and the flow of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

In recent years, the Iraqi government has been buying wheat from the United States, Australia, and Canada.

“These are the three best varieties that are suitable for making our Iraqi bread because they are firm and contain a high percentage of gluten,” Nouri said.

Wheat futures rose on Monday for the first time in a week as Russia threatened to cancel Ukraine’s grain export agreement if its demands for the export of its fertilizer were not met.

Nouri clarified that global wheat prices remain favorable given Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Iraqi Grain Board is working to modernize grain storage silos and plans to build a silo with a capacity of 60 thousand tons in the southern governorate of Diwaniyah by the end of 2023.

Five of Iraq’s 27 silos were previously damaged during the conflict with ISIS terrorist group.