Shafaq News- Diyala
Wheat harvesting has begunacross Iraq’s Diyala province, where marketed production is expected to exceed210,000 tons, with recent rainfall helping improve yields, local agriculturalauthorities announced on Monday.
Mohammed Al-Mandalawi,spokesperson for the Diyala Agriculture Directorate, told Shafaq News that morethan 305,000 dunams (30,500 hectares) have been cultivated for marketing,including between 58,000 and 59,000 dunams within the official agriculturalplan, while nearly 246,000 dunams were planted outside the plan throughrain-fed farming.
Diyala’s wheat season, Al-Mandalawinoted, typically starts later than in southern Iraq because of geographic andclimatic conditions, adding that grain silos and storage facilities arepreparing to receive crops ahead of the official launch of marketing operationson May 20.
Earlier this month, wheatharvest season began in Karbala, Najaf, and Basra. In its 2025 annual report,the International Grains Council forecast Iraq’s 2026 wheat crop at 5 milliontons, down from 6.3 million the previous year, while imports are expected torise to 2.1 million tons from 1.5 million in 2025.
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