Iraq to import another 1m tonnes of wheat in 2011

Iraq will import about another one million tonnes of wheat by the end of 2011, a senior official with the Grain Board of Iraq said on Tuesday.

Director General Eng. Hasan I. Ibrahim told reporters at the International Grains Council's annual conference that since the start of the year the Grain Board of Iraq had signed contracts for imports of about 1.5 million tonnes.

"I do believe we will import another (one) million tonnes from now to the end of the year," he said.

Ibrahim said the country's wheat crop was currently rising at a rate of about 20 percent a year while the government provides support to farmers.

"I believe this policy will continue for the next five years. After than they will have to follow the free economy completely without helping the farmer," he said. "Our estimation (for this year's Iraq wheat crop) is to have 2.0 million, maybe 2.2 (million)," Ibrahim said.