Iraq revises 400,000-ton wheat cap for Kurdistan Region farmers

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi government on Tuesday set a total cap of 400,000 tons for wheat procurement from the Kurdistan Region, the office of outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani reported, following accusations of unequal procurement from farmers in the Region.

The Iraqi Council of Representatives “approved amendments” to “the plan for receiving high-grade wheat for the 2025 - 2026 agricultural season,” Sudani’s office stated, adding that the Kurdistan Region’s share of the plan is “set at 400,000 tons.”

The Council further established a tiered pricing structure under which the government will purchase wheat at 700,000 Iraqi dinars (around $534) per ton for farmers within the national agricultural plan, while quantities produced outside the plan will be purchased at 500,000 dinars (around $382) per ton.

Moreover, the cabinet authorized the finance ministry to settle all outstanding dues to farmers for the 2024 - 2025 and 2025 - 2026 seasons, and enacted a temporary debt freeze, deferring “the collection of sums owed by farmers for agricultural land leases and irrigation fees until their wheat marketing dues are fully settled.”

The decision to raise the Kurdistan Region’s share of the national wheat plan came hours after Erbil’s Agriculture Minister Begard Talabani on Tuesday criticized Baghdad for acting “unequally” and discriminating against farmers in the Kurdistan Region despite a bumper harvest.

“Iraq is implementing a policy that falls outside any framework of mutual coordination, as it discriminates between farmers in the Kurdistan Region and those in other parts of the country,” the minister said, adding that Baghdad had initially decided to receive only 292,000 tons of wheat from farmers in the Region this year. The latter quota has now been increased to 400,000 tons.

Despite the increase, the latest quota continues a downward trend in federal wheat purchases from the Kurdistan Region, as Baghdad bought 700,000 tons from Kurdish farmers in 2024 before reducing the amount to 400,000 tons in 2025.

Disputes between Erbil and Baghdad over budget transfers, oil exports, and agricultural coordination have repeatedly affected trade and procurement policies in recent years, prompting Kurdish officials to call for equal treatment of farmers in the Region under Iraq’s national support programs.

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