BAGHDAD- Iraq's Grain Board will pay the country's farmers 420,000-560,000 Iraqi dinars ($354-$472) per tonne of local wheat during the 2018 harvest, unchanged from last year, the state buyer said on Tuesday.
Setting three grades for the local wheat harvest, the Grain Board set a price of 560,000 Iraqi dinars per tonne for "first grade quality" locally produced wheat, while 480,000 Iraqi dinars will be paid per tonne of second grade wheat crops.
The lowest quality grade of local wheat would be worth 420,000 Iraqi dinars per tonne, it said in a statement.
The board imports millions of tonnes of wheat and rice annually as millions of Iraqis depend on the government's extensive subsidised food system, which is managed by the trade ministry.
Iraq's new Grain Board chief said he expected local wheat production of no less than 2.5 million tonnes in the 2018 season, an improvement over previous forecasts thanks to recent rainfall. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1QV3AT
Iraq needs an annual wheat supply of between 4.5 million and five million tonnes, implying an import gap of around two million tonnes for the year.
Iraqi Grain Board officials said an extensive plan had been drawn up to rehabilitate the country's silos to absorb an expected rise in the local wheat harvest this year, including from Mosul which is expected to produce larger than expected wheat crops.
"Prices for the 2018 wheat harvest look reasonable and enough to encourage farmers to produce more wheat of high quality. More better quality wheat locally produced means less expensive imports," said an official with the Grain Board.
($1 = 1,186.4300 Iraqi dinars)
(Reporting by Moayed Kenany, writing by Ahmed Rasheed, editing by Louise Heavens and Adrian Croft) ((ahmed.rasheed@thomsonreuters.com; +964-7901-947-131; Reuters Messaging: ahmed.rasheed.thomsonreuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))
