October 13, 2002	Sunday	Sha'aban 6, 1423

TEHRAN, Oct 12: Iran, traditionally a major wheat importer, will be self-sufficient in the grain by next crop year, the official students’ news agency ISNA reported on Saturday, quoting the minister of agriculture.

Ministry officials had previously said it would take Iran roughly a decade to become self-sufficient.

We predict we will produce 12 million tons of wheat in the next crop year, Minister of Agricultural Jihad Mahmoud Hojjati said.

Local demand for wheat currently stands at around 11 million tons a year.

Hojjati said, however, his ministry faced shortage of warehouses and silos to store the wheat they buy from farmers.

We have bought more than 8.6 million tonnes of wheat from farmers but ... we face problems in terms of places to store the grain, he said.

Officials could not be reached for comment.

Iran has pressed ahead with a plan that obliges local cooperatives to buy wheat from local farmers at a fixed rate - currently $195 per ton to encourage them to keep growing the grain.

Iran is a major importer of wheat, mainly from Argentina, Canada and Australia.

Last month, Australian grain exporter AWB Ltd said it had sold 530,000 tons of wheat to Iran and it expected further sales this year.—Reuters