Syria's 2025 wheat crop declines

The annual meeting for the 2025 wheat marketing season, held yesterday, Wednesday, at the General Administration of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection building, discussed preparations for the season, as well as proposals and recommendations required for this year.

The Director General of the General Organization for Grains, Engineer Hassan Al-Othman, revealed that the expected wheat crop this year is estimated at approximately 750,000 tons, most of which will be from irrigated areas. He pointed out that the yield will decline in rainfed areas, which are not reliable, due to this year's climatic conditions.

During the annual meeting for the 2025 wheat marketing season, Al-Othman predicted that the marketed wheat quantities will range between 200,000 and 300,000 tons, noting that this depends on pricing, which will be set later.

It is worth noting that Syria's wheat production last year amounted to approximately 2 million tons, while before 2011, it ranged between 3 and 4 million tons annually.

The decline in wheat production this season poses a major challenge to the government, given the sanctions, logistical obstacles, and changes in the global grain market. Reuters revealed a few days ago that Syria had withdrawn without concluding any deals in the international wheat tender it had issued last April for 100,000 tons of milling wheat.

Damascus-based economic analyst Marwan Qwaider believes that the assistance provided recently by Iraq, which provided Syria with approximately 220,000 tons of wheat as a gift, has provided a lifeline for the Syrian people, who were at risk of waking up one morning without finding bread in the bakeries.

In a statement to "Eqtsad," Qwaider said that the lifting of US sanctions in particular came at the right time, as Syria can now purchase wheat from all global markets, and that friendly countries are now able to provide assistance to the Syrian government in this regard.

The economic analyst emphasized that the deterioration of this year's wheat crop should serve as a warning bell for the government, and the Ministry of Agriculture in particular. He said the government should take the initiative to develop plans to expand irrigated wheat cultivation next season, in addition to mobilizing government efforts by increasing support for farmers and offering favorable pricing to encourage them to grow wheat.

Quwaider concluded his remarks by noting that the price of a ton of wheat on global markets, including transportation costs, currently exceeds $520, while Syria's annual need is approximately 2 million tons of wheat, meaning the cost of importing it exceeds $1 billion.