‘Kingdom has enough wheat for 11 months’

AMMAN — The strategic stockpile of wheat is enough to cover the Kingdom’s needs for 11 months, while Jordan has enough barley for eight months and seven days, Trade Ministry Spokesperson Yanal Barmawi said Wednesday.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted Barmawi as saying that the strategic stockpile of wheat stood at 897,000 tonnes and the stockpile of barley reached 612,000 tonnes.

He said the ministry makes sure there are adequate amounts of these two strategic items to meet public needs at suitable prices.

Wheat production is expected to double this year compared to the crop’s yield in 2014 due to abundant rain in winter, Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin said in recent remarks to The Jordan Times.

Production of wheat is expected to range from 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes this year, he added.

“The country’s wheat imports used to be around 900,000 tonnes annually, but the figure has increased to 1 million tonnes due to population growth in light of the refugee influx,” Haddadin said.

Jordan imports its needs of wheat from several countries including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, Romania and the United States.

Jordan consumes 80,000 tonnes of wheat and 70,000 tonnes of barley per month, according to Petra.