Parliament demands government pay wheat farmers, freeze loan repayments

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Council of Representatives on Wednesday demanded the federal government and Ministry of Finance to pay farmers their dues for last season’s wheat crop and suspended loan repayments until the federal budget is approved.

The decision, dated April 22, called on the government to cancel a cabinet measure on wheat pricing and revert to the previous season’s rates “in accordance with the ministerial council for the economy.” It also directed that wheat quantities be assessed by specialized committees “without setting a fixed ceiling per farmer” and called for scrapping the pre-booking system in favor of the previous delivery process.

Lawmaker Ibtisam al-Hilali, head of the Iraq Men Gathering bloc within the State of Law Coalition, said recent government decisions were “harmful to the Iraqi people” and aimed at “maximizing revenues at the expense of the citizen.” Farmers, who she said make up 75% of the Iraqi people, had not received their dues. “This is unfair to them,” she said.

The move follows a parliamentary vote on April 20 that included similar measures in support of farmers.

Iraq’s wheat sector relies on a state procurement system in which the government purchases crops at fixed prices to secure domestic supply and support agricultural incomes. The policy has helped achieve self-sufficiency in recent seasons but has placed pressure on public finances, with procurement prices often set above global market levels and large harvests creating storage and payment challenges.