TEHRAN - Chairman of Iran's Grain Union Kaveh Zargaran has said the country could face a reduction in production over the coming years due to the lack of rainfall across the country.

Pointing out the possibility of an increase in the global prices of all kinds of grains following the non-renewal of the Ukraine grain deal, a pact that allowed the country to export grain through the Black Sea, Zargaran noted that this could also impact Iran’s imports.

According to the official, Iran imported about 16.7 million tons of grains in the previous Iranian calendar year 1401 (ended on March 20).

He put the country’s grain consumption in the previous year at about 32 million tons, while five million tons were also stored in special reserves.

“In total, nearly 37 million tons of grains were provided last year, of which 20.8 million tons came from domestic production and 16.7 million tons have been provided through imports,” he explained.

The official noted that more than 8.66 million hectares of Iran's lands are under grain cultivation, of which five million hectares are cultivated by rainfed method.

“In fact, the majority of the country's grain production is based on the amount of rainfall in the country, and due to the decrease in the rainfall compared to the long-term period, there is a possibility of a decrease in the volume of production in this sector,” he said.

Zargaran further noted that based on recent statistics over 50 percent of the regions across the country are suffering from drought; this has negatively affected the amount of production of various agricultural products, especially grains.

EF/MA