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Summary
Iranian wheat in the northern locations continues to break dormancy (Snow Cover Map), while wheat in the southern regions is much more advanced (Figure 1). In the southern and eastern regions early-planted wheat has entered the flowering stage, but late-planted wheat is still in the jointing stage. Harvest of the wheat crop begins in mid-April for the southern and eastern lowland areas, where the wheat crop is predominately irrigated and grows faster due to relatively warmer temperatures (Figure 2).
Poor-to-Adequate Sub-surface Soil Moisture in non-Irrigated Northwest
The non-irrigated wheat growing areas in northwestern Iran received timely precipitation in late-March and early-April, but more rain is required from April-May to improve wheat prospects during the critical flowering and grain-filling stages. Late-March and early-April precipitation helped boost surface soil moisture in northwestern Iran (Surface Soil Moisture Map), but subsurface soil moisture conditions are still less than ideal in the far north (Subsurface Soil Moisture Map). However, sub-surface soil moisture reserves range from adequate-to-good in the important non-irrigated wheat provinces of western Iran (Kermanshah, Kordestan, and Lorestan provinces).
Northwestern Iran is an important rain-fed wheat region that experienced dry conditions, with late arrival of rains during the planting season (November’s update) and the far north experienced another dry spell from mid-January through mid-March. The wheat stage in northwestern Iran is less advanced, due to slower growing rates in the cooler mountainous regions, and currently ranges from tillering to jointing stages. Most of the rain-fed wheat in Iran is located in the western and northwestern provinces of Kermanshah, Kordestan, Lorestan, and Azarbayjan, with a larger share of irrigated wheat located in eastern and southern provinces of Iran (Iran Crop Production Maps).
Favorable Wheat Crop in the Irrigated Southwest Region
In contrast to low sub-surface soil moisture in the northwest, the irrigated southwestern regions and non-irrigated regions along the Caspian Sea continued to experience good growing conditions, with subsurface soil moisture maintaining adequate-to-good levels for crop development.
Figure 1. Approximate Wheat Crop Stage in Iran
Figure 2. Wheat is first harvested in southeatern Iran.
Other Links:
USDA/FAS/PECAD's Weather Data over
Major Crop Regions
http://151.121.3.218/rssiws/
For more information, contact Curt Reynolds with the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division at (202) 690-0134.
