Ministry’s purchase of wheat, barley from farmers drops

AMMAN — The Ministry of Agriculture has purchased around 21,000 tonnes of wheat and barley from farmers this year, an official said on Saturday.

The amount is lower than the quantity of wheat and barley purchased last year, when the figure stood at around 70,000 tonnes, according to official figures.

The ministry said that the 2016/2017 rainy season was weak, which caused lower production of grains this year.

“The central committee for grains procurement, headed by the ministry, bought 21,299 tonnes of wheat and barley from farmers across the country. The committee purchased this year’s local yield of grains at JD8,574,008,” ministry’s Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin told The Jordan Times over the phone.

Haddadin noted that the yield can be higher than the amount of grains that the central committee purchased, noting that many farmers keep their harvest.

The government announced in June that it was buying wheat and barley from farmers for a higher price in compensation for a “weak” production season. It bought each tonne of wheat and barley for JD500, instead of JD450 , which was the buying price of the previous year.

Every year, the Ministry of Agriculture buys wheat and barley from farmers at prices preferential for producers to support the local production of grains.

The government allocated JD12 million for buying an expected yield of 30,000 tonnes of wheat and barley from the local market.

The ministry announced that the three main centres in the northern, central and southern regions of the Kingdom have closed down their doors for the season.

The centres received two kinds of wheat from farmers, one for producing flour and the second, of a higher quality, will be used for seeds. The government has also purchased two types of barley from farmers, one to be used for producing seeds, and the other as fodder for livestock.

Farmers grow wheat across the country, but grains are mainly cultivated in the plains of Irbid and Houran in the north, Madaba and Husban in the central region, and Arrabeh in the southern Governorate of Karak.

The Kingdom, which consumes more than 80,000 tonnes of wheat per month, imports over 96 per cent of its wheat needs, as domestic production covers around only 4 per cent of demand. Jordan imports the majority of its wheat from several countries, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, Romania and the US.