Iraq’s grain imports will be high this year as dry weather will curb domestic crops, an Iraqi official said on Sunday.
“This year is dry, our imports will be very large this year,” Sami al-Araji, the head of Iraq’s National Investment Commission said at a conference in Kuwait.
Iraq, a major importer of grains, consumes around 5 million tons of wheat a year.
Rice and wheat are imported by the trade ministry for Iraq’s food rationing program which includes flour, rice, cooking oil, sugar and baby milk formula.
Araji said Iraq would aim to encourage investment in its agricultural sector to achieve self-sufficiency in strategic crops over the next 10 years.
“We are talking about strategic crops like wheat and barley,” he said.
He was speaking ahead of a major donor conference in Kuwait this week.
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