TEHRAN – The U.S. Department for Agriculture, in its latest report on global cereal production and trade dubbed “Grain: World Markets and Trade”, has said Iran’s wheat production is expected to increase by 10 percent to reach 14.5 million tons in the current crop year.

According to the report, Iran produced 13.2 million tons of wheat in the last crop year and the production in the current year is expected to experience a 1.3-million-tons increase.

Meanwhile, world wheat production this year will not grow significantly compared to the previous year and will reach 789 million tons in 2023 from 788 million tons in the previous year.

Based on the said report, Iran will be the 12th largest producer of wheat in the world this year. China will be the largest wheat producer with 140 million tons, while the European Union and India will occupy the second and third place with 139 million tons and 110 million tons of production, respectively.

Russia, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Argentina, Turkey, Ukraine and England will also be ranked 4th to 11th.

According to the U.S. Department for Agriculture, Iran imported 4.5 million tons of wheat in the last crop year, and this figure is expected to decrease to four million tons this year.

The department estimated Iran's wheat reserves at the end of 2022 at 4.4 million tons and predicted that Iran would have the same amount of wheat reserves at the end of 2023.

Barley production in Iran is also expected to increase by seven percent in the current crop year to reach 3.2 million tons. Iran produced three million tons of barley last year.

Based on the report, Iran imported 2.2 million tons of barley last year, and it is predicted that 2.3 million tons of barley will also be imported into Iran this year.

EF/MA