* Farmers sold 1.866 million tonnes wheat in 2009/10
* Also harvested more than 450,000 tonnes barley
* Does not expect to be affected by drought in Russia
(Adds details, quotes)
By Khalid al-Ansary
BAGHDAD, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Iraq has enough wheat reserves to last the year thanks to good rains and a bigger harvest and does not expect to be affected by rising prices following a drought in Russia, the head of the Iraqi Grain Board said.
Iraq's farmers sold 1.866 million tonnes of wheat to the agency in 2009/2010, up from 1.25 million tonnes the previous season, Hassan Ibrahim, director general of the Grain Board, told Reuters in a recent interview.
He said he did not expect Iraq, one of the world's biggest importers of rice and wheat, to be affected as a buyer by a severe drought in the Black Sea region, which has led Moscow to ban wheat exports. "The amount of wheat sold to us by farmers in Kurdistan's Arbil, Dahuk and from Mosul was high. We received big quantities," Ibrahim said.
Farmers also harvested more than 450,000 tonnes of barley this season, he said.
"We, as a grain company, have a good reserve that is enough for us until the end of the year," he said.
Iraq, once a regional breadbasket, is trying to revive its agriculture sector after years of war, economic sanctions and drought. The agriculture sector suffers from high soil salinity, poor irrigation practices and a lack of proper seeds and fertilizer.
All but a tiny fraction of the national harvest is sold to the Grain Board, which administers a massive public food ration programme.
Ibrahim said there would also be enough rice reserves to last until the end of 2010 after one final tender, which would be awarded soon.
Nine international firms from the United States, Thailand, Vietnam and Switzerland bid for the tender.
Iraq's population of around 30 million consumes at least 1 million tonnes of rice annually and 4.5 million tonnes of wheat. (Reporting by Khalid al-Ansary; writing by Serena Chaudhry, editing by Jane Baird))