of the ration card, while economists justified it and said that production would not fill the growing need for several conditions.

Iraq is one of the major importers of grain in the region to cover the ration card program that has been applied since the nineties of the last century.

The Ministry of Trade stipulated that the origins must be from America, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Vietnam and Thailand with the specifications of " White Grain."

The ministry said in a statement reported for "Shafaq News" that “ offers will be open up to 29/1/2015 but the presentations must be accompanied by an initial insurances by a bank guarantee or a check certified for the General Company for Grain Trade in the ministry.

Analysts and economists believe that Iraq’s move towards the global market is to meet the needs of its population of grain for many economic conditions.

The economist , Falah Hassan told “Shafaq News" that "Iraq has a great potential in the production of agricultural crops, but the conditions experienced in the country affected local production significantly."

He explained that "local production in Iraq began to diminish year after a year due to economic factors as well as political factors , although it has recently improved, but of course still modest in spite of the many possibilities that exist in Iraq."

Hassan added, "there has been a clear deficit in the coverage of such crops as wheat barley and rice, so that Iraq covers domestic demand through imports .. For example, rice needs large amounts of water while Iraq is going through a crisis in irrigation projects and this is a big challenge due to lower levels of Tigris and Euphrates rivers by the impact of upstream countries "Turkey and Syria.