Beginning June 1, silos across Kirkuk will start receiving wheat and barley harvests from local farmers as part of a newly announced agricultural plan. Authorities have also confirmed the opening of additional storage facilities capable of holding up to 150,000 extra tons of grain this season.
The plan was finalized during a meeting between Kirkuk officials and the committee responsible for crop harvesting and marketing. Under the new arrangements, farmers will be permitted to harvest their crops continuously throughout the day, except in regions where the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ISIS activity remains a security concern.
Kirkuk Mayor Avesta Mohammed stated that several government bodies are participating in the operation, including the police, Kirkuk Operations Command, fire departments, agricultural authorities, silo administrations, and national security agencies. He explained that June 1 marks the official start date for grain collection and emphasized that security and emergency teams will closely monitor harvesting activities.
According to Mohammed, “special procedures will be implemented in areas facing security threats, while firefighting units will be stationed near agricultural lands to prevent crop losses caused by fires.”
The Iraqi Ministry of Commerce purchases and stores grains from farmers, distributing them to mills to provide state-subsidized food rations. Flour is a key ingredient in Iraqi cuisine, as bread and rice are staple dishes.
Hassan Hamdi, director of the Kirkuk silo authority, confirmed that 16 new storage facilities have been constructed this year, raising the province’s grain storage capacity by 150,000 tons compared with the previous season.
In 2025, farmers in Kirkuk produced approximately 503,000 tons of grain, compared with 547,000 tons the year before. Officials say this year’s final production figures remain uncertain. Despite significantly higher rainfall, authorities expect output may decline because the agricultural plan covered a smaller cultivated area.
Mahdi Zain al-Abidin, assistant director of Kirkuk’s Agriculture Department, explained that the Ministry of Agriculture reduced the amount of land included in this year’s plan to protect groundwater resources. Instead, irrigation relied mainly on project water supplies. He noted that while production inside the official agricultural plan may decrease, the total output from lands outside the plan remains unknown.
Iraqi farmers rely heavily on government support for grain production, a system that experts have criticized for years. Critics argue that large quantities of grain have been stored in silos without proper use, while financial resources were often insufficient to compensate farmers. As a result, many farmers prefer selling their crops to private traders and silos, especially as global demand for wheat has increased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s breadbasket.
The Iraqi government purchases wheat from farmers at prices ranging from 500,000 to 850,000 IQD/ton — approximately $350 to $600 — depending on the grain’s quality.
The Ministry of Agriculture assists farmers by supplying harvesting equipment, seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides either free of charge or at subsidized prices. Farmers continue to demand stronger government support due to ongoing challenges as dust storms, and the rising costs of fertilizers, pesticides, and other essential agricultural supplies.
Representatives of the local farmers estimate that around 400,000 dunams outside the official agricultural plan are currently planted with grain crops.
This year, the Iraqi government set the purchase price for grain at 700,000 Iraqi dinars IQD ($450) per ton for crops grown within the agricultural plan, while grain produced outside the plan will be purchased at 500,000 IQD/ton.
Najat Talabani, a representative of farmers in Daquq, criticized the pricing policy, describing the rates for both planned and unplanned agricultural lands as insufficient. He added that more than one million dunams (250K hectares) remain affected by ownership disputes or frozen land status, with Kurdish and Turkmen farmers suffering the greatest impact.
Talabani also urged authorities to quickly enforce the law approved by the Iraqi parliament on January 21, 2025, aimed at restoring lands and properties to their rightful owners.
The multi-ethnic, oil-rich province of Kirkuk, the center of the disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil, has 1.5 billion square meters of agricultural farmlands, out of which 0.9 billion was allocated for wheat, 2020 statistics of the directorate of Kirkuk agriculture show.
