TEHRAN - Cereal production in Iran reached 21.2 million tons in the current crop year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.

Based on the said report, the Islamic Republic’s cereal production in the current crop year has increased by two percent compared to the previous year when the output was 20.6 million tons.

FAO has placed Iran in fourth place among the Asian nations in terms of the volume of cereal production.

According to the organization, Iran's wheat production, which stood at 13 million tons in the 2022 crop year, has increased by 500,000 tons to reach 13.5 million tons in the current year.

Rice production also reached 3.5 million tons in the current year, without any changes compared to the previous crop year.

FAO has put Iran's total cereal stocks at 12.1 million tons in the current year, registering a 100,000-ton increase compared to the previous year.

With this volume of stocks, Iran has ranked fourth in the world. China has been ranked first with 399 million tons of cereal stocks. India with 64 million tons and Turkey with 12.7 million tons have taken the second and third places respectively.

Back in May, FAO released a report in which Iran was ranked 43rd in the world in terms of food imports despite being the 17th most populous country in the world.

The UN entity’s statistics show that industrialized countries were the largest importers of food products in the world.

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

EF/MA