Iraq has bought 1.75 million tonnes of domestic wheat so far this season, well below a trade ministry target of 2.5 MMT. Iraq needs around 4.5 million tonnes a year. Iraq has suffered from a drought and water shortages that have hurt agriculture. The local wheat purchasing season, which began on April 16, is expected to last until the end of June. Grain board chief Naeem al-Maksousi said the silos in Suleimaniya, Erbil and Dohuk in the autonomous Kurdish region in the north had not received any wheat this season for technical problems between it and the federal agriculture ministry. The grain board, which falls under the trade ministry, regularly announces international tenders to import wheat for the food rationing programme, which covers flour, cooking oil, rice, sugar and baby milk formula. The programme was created in 1991 to combat U.N. economic sanctions. Iraq buys wheat of U.S., Canadian and Australian origin through public tenders or private invitations.