PM Masrour Barzani lays foundation stone for $250-million-worth agricultural project

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday laid the foundation stone for a $250-million-worth wheat marketing project, containing numerous factories and silos that will provide food security and fulfill domestic demand.

In a ceremony held in the capital city on Monday, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani along with deputy Qubad Talabani and relevant ministers and officials laid the foundation stone for the strategic project, expected to provide locally produced food products and a market for Kurdish farmers’ wheat.

The project, intended to provide food security, would consist of 40 silos and several factories that can produce much-needed wholegrains locally such as bulgur, flour, spaghetti, animal feed, and more.

The project consists of two phases. The first part is planned to be finished by the first half of 2021, according to sources from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

In his speech, Prime Minister Barzani expressed his cabinet’s intentions to reverse the consumerism order in the Kurdistan Region.

“Instead of eyeing on [public] wages to live on,” Barzani said, the KRG intends to turn people into producers as these projects would not only benefit the farmers but the entire autonomous region.

The second phase of the project, consisting of 20 silos, each with a capacity of 5,000 tons, is planned to be finished by the end of 2021, according to KRG sources. Each hour, 400 tons of wheat could be received by the silos.

According to the ministry of agriculture’s figures, the Kurdistan Region produces nearly two million tons of wheat.

“The Kurdistan Region has the potential to not only provide the food basket for itself but for Iraq and the Middle East,” Prime Minister Barzani added.

The project “would solve the marketing issue for farmers,” KRG agriculture minister Begard Talabani said in a speech. Moreover, the wheat products would be industrialized by realizing the project, the minister added.

Upon a condition set by the agriculture minister, the graduates of the agriculture colleges and universities have to be hired in the project, the ministry said.

By the time the project is finalized, the Kurdistan Region will reach a “self-sufficiency” stage and the import of locally-produced items will be banned from entering the region, the ministry noted.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany