ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq expects this year's wheat harvest to exceed 5 million tons, a senior trade ministry official said on Monday, as authorities prepare to launch the grain marketing season in the Kurdistan Region.
"We expect this year's harvest to reach 5 million tons or slightly more,” Haider Nouri al-Garawi, head of Iraq’s state-owned general company for grain trade, told Rudaw on Monday.
He added that officials will travel to Erbil next week “to officially launch the grain marketing season in the Kurdistan Region."
The Iraqi government in early May set a procurement cap of 400,000 tons for wheat purchases from the Kurdistan Region.
The Iraqi Council of Ministers established a tiered pricing structure under which the government will purchase wheat at 700,000 Iraqi dinars (around $534) per ton from farmers included in the national agricultural plan, while wheat produced outside the plan will be purchased at 500,000 dinars (around $382) per ton.
The quota was initially set at 292,000 tons before being increased following opposition from the Kurdistan Region's agriculture ministry.
Regarding the specific volume of wheat to be purchased from the Region, Garawi said 292,000 tons will be purchased at the official rate, while 108,000 tons fall outside the agricultural plan and will be bought at 500,000 dinars per ton.
Hemin Sayyid Murad, head of Erbil’s agriculture directorate, told Rudaw that the quota allocated to the Kurdistan Region is "extremely low." He noted that officials are actively lobbying to increase the limit, pointing out that more than 3.339 million dunams (8,347 square kilometers) of land were cultivated with wheat across the Kurdistan Region this year.
In Iraqi provinces, local agricultural officials reported strong harvests and procurement levels.
Ammar Maluki al-Khalaf, head of the agriculture department in the western Anbar province, said the government plans to purchase its entire expected production of 500,000 tons. He said 360,000 tons have already been delivered to silos and that "We expect the total yield to hit 500,000 tons, and the Ministry of Trade is committed to buying our entire production."
Arkan Maryoush, head of the agriculture department in eastern Wasit province, said its planned yield of 335,000 tons has already been successfully procured. However, regarding the 200,000 dunams cultivated outside the official plan, he said that farmers “are refusing to hand over their wheat at the low price set by the ministry [500,000 dinars per ton]."
The latest quota continues a downward trend in federal wheat purchases from the Kurdistan Region. Baghdad purchased 700,000 tons from Kurdish farmers in 2024 before reducing the amount to 400,000 tons in 2025.
Disputes between Erbil and Baghdad over budget transfers, oil exports, and agricultural coordination have repeatedly affected trade and procurement policies in recent years, prompting Kurdish officials to call for equal treatment of farmers in the Region under Iraq’s national support programs.