Ataollah Hashemi, head of the National Wheat Farmers Foundation, announced that due to frequent power outages, farmers’ access to water has decreased by one-quarter.
In a video interview with the state-run news outlet Khaneh Eghtesad, Hashemi reported a decline in wheat production due to the effects of drought and factors such as prolonged power outages.
He said: “Six hours of daily power cuts have eliminated 25% of farmers’ access to water. In my opinion, the damage to farmers is even greater than this.”
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Hashemi added: “This year, we will reach 7.5 million tons of wheat production. Under these circumstances, the country needs to import 5 million tons of wheat, which is a terrifying figure.”
In recent days, frequent water and power cuts have caused widespread problems for citizens, affecting daily life, the industrial sector, and economic activities.
Officials of Iran’s regime call on people to save and adjust consumption patterns, while they have been unable to resolve the structural and managerial crises in the water and electricity sectors, and are now resorting to shutting down entire provinces as a temporary measure to prevent further deterioration of the situation.
Other countries refrain from selling grade-one wheat to Iran
The head of the National Wheat Farmers Foundation, continuing his interview, reported that 12.5 million tons of wheat were purchased under guaranteed procurement last year, but said that other countries mostly do not sell grade-one wheat to Iran.
According to Hashemi, much of the imported wheat is of grade two or three quality, and sometimes it is not even suitable “for human consumption.”
He pointed to the challenges facing wheat imports, including the issue of securing foreign currency, and added: “Other problems are where to buy it from, how to buy it, how it will be transported, and whether they will even sell us wheat at all.”
Hashemi had also reported in late May that farmers’ water pumps, each worth 3 billion rials, were burning out due to constant power outages.
In early May, Aliqoli Imani, CEO of the National Wheat Farmers Foundation, warned that production of essential crops would decrease by 30% if the electricity supply to agricultural wells were cut off.
In recent weeks, as Iran’s water and electricity crisis has intensified, public protests and expert criticisms have escalated.
On August 5, industrial activists warned that with the widespread power outages imposed since May, steel production this year is expected to decline by 33%.
Earlier, Vahid Yaghoubi, a member of the Iranian Steel Producers Association, had said that since late April, almost all steel production units have been shut down.
