Kurdistan Region bans tomato imports to boost domestic market

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A video showing farmers throwing away their tomato products has gone viral after it was published on social media this week.

The tomatoes recently aren’t selling well in markets. The farmers have been working on growing them for 6 months.

A 12 kilogram-plastic of tomato is worth $0.80. If prices continue to be that low, some farmers say they’ll quit their jobs.

More than 164,000 tons of tomatoes are used in the Kurdistan Region every year, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.

 

There are 66,000 tons of tomatoes produced locally, with 98,000 tons being imported from neighboring Iran and Turkey. 100 tons of tomato are imported to Kurdistan Region everyday, according to the ministry.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources announced on August 22 that tomato imports will be banned from September 1 to an unspecified time.

KRG agriculture officials work together with their Iraqi counterparts to put taxes on tomato imports.

Local residents prefer domestic tomatoes to imported ones.

Reporting by Ayub Nasri

Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed