Iran aims to be self-sufficient in wheat: minister

Iran aims to be self-sufficient in wheat in future by improving yields but will continue to be reliant on imports for maize and barley, Iranian Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati said during a visit to Paris on Thursday. Iran has been a major wheat importer in recent years as the country aimed to guarantee local food supplies and curb political tensions, although its needs have varied partly due to erratic domestic production.
Iranian annual wheat imports have fallen to 1.5 million tonnes in its current season, which runs to March, and the country hopes to be self sufficient in wheat as soon as next year, Hojjati told a Franco-Iranian business forum. The country's state grain buying agency, the Government Trading Corporation (GTC), said earlier this month it was considering a 2 million tonne cut in its strategic wheat reserves to 3 million tonnes to save storage costs.
Hojjati, who did not mention the wheat stocks reduction plan, said domestic crops would benefit from efforts to improve irrigation and seed technology. "Given the area devoted to wheat, our problem is more to do with yields," he said. "We hope to be self-sufficient in wheat by raising yields." Faced with acute water problems, Iran's government has a target to introduce modern irrigation systems to 450,000 hectares of farmland, he said.
In seeds, Iran wants to develop ties with France as a leading producer of crop seeds, he said. Hojjati is part of a delegation accompanying President Hassan Rouhani to Paris, as the countries seek to revive economic ties following the lifting of trade sanctions against Iran.
Farming and food was a focus of a French delegation that visited Iran last September, and Prime Minister Manuel Valls said agriculture would be among sectors covered by other agreements to be announced in Paris later on Thursday. Hojjati did not cite any contracts that would be signed on Thursday but said other deals were expected soon, including a greenhouse farming project and a second fish farm project following a first one concluded last year. Food products were not covered by Western sanctions imposed on Iran but payment and ocean shipping had been complicated by the trade restrictions.