TEHRAN - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in its latest Food Outlook Report, has increased its forecast of total cereal production in Iran by 2.5 percent.

In the mentioned report, FAO has stated that Iran’s cereal production in 2022 has reached 19.5 million tons which is over 16 percent more than the figure for 2021 when the Islamic Republic’s total production stood at 16.8 million tons.

FAO, in its previous report, published in June, had estimated Iran’s cereal production in 2022 to reach 19.2 million tons.

Following the increase in the domestic production of cereals in Iran, the import of such products has decreased and the total import of cereals in 2022 has been estimated to be 18.3 million tons, 15 percent less than the figure for the previous year.

FAO has estimated Iran's total cereal stocks at 12.7 million tons at the end of 2022. According to FAO's expectations, Iran's grain stocks will grow by 23 percent this year compared to the previous year's 10.3 million tons.

Based on the FAO data, of the total 12.7 million tons of Iran's cereal reserves in 2022, 8.5 million tons are wheat stocks.

This report estimates Iran's wheat production in the 2022 crop year to be 13 million tons, registering a significant growth of 25 percent compared to the previous year. Iran produced 10.4 million tons of wheat last year.

Accordingly, Iran's wheat import has decreased by 37 percent this year. While Iran imported 7.9 million tons of wheat last year, the figure has decreased to five million tons in 2022.

The international organization also estimated Iran's maize production in the 2022 crop year at 1.3 million tons and Iran's barley production at three million tons, which have not changed compared to the previous year.

The production of oilseeds also remained unchanged compared to the previous year at the level of 0.9 million tons.

According to FAO, Iran currently stands among the world’s top producers of agricultural products.

FAO statistics show that industrialized countries were the largest importers of food products in the world.

EF/MA