The delay in government policies made it impossible for the private sector to enter contract cultivation
Mr. Rasoul Mozhdeh Shafagh, Spokesman of the Iranian Pasta Association
Two months have passed since the beginning of the new Iranian year and despite the numerous meetings that the Pasta Association has supported with the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad and the organization, the government’s policy regarding how to supply the wheat needs of trade and industry and its price is still unclear!
Does the government hand over wheat to the guild and the industry at the full price? Will they leave the supply of wheat to the private sector or will they be responsible for it themselves? All these are questions that have occupied the minds of industry activists and we have no answers for them!
He stated: Until today, despite the task of paragraph C, note 8 of the current year’s budget law, which clearly states that the necessary conditions must be provided for the supply of wheat by the private sector through contract cultivation, currently, we are harvesting the crops of the 2023-2024 crop year and we have passed this season without the private sector being able to enter into contract farming. Therefore, we announced to the officials of the Ministry of Jihad that the conditions of contract cultivation should have been provided for flour mill industries in advance and they should think about the necessary preparations for the coming year.
He added: The government has delivered wheat to industries in the first two months of the year with the rate of 2023. Although industrial wheat has been delivered to pasta production units at last year’s rate, other production costs such as packaging, wages, energy, transportation and overhead costs have increased. Therefore, the Pasta Association has announced to the Consumers and Producers Protection Organization and the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad that until the government makes a policy regarding wheat, the pasta factories will adjust the price of pasta in proportion to the increase in other production costs. But this period should not be prolonged, because the factories cannot afford to continue this process.
