date:Jul 09, 2013
Syria, which began the century self-sufficient in wheat , will need imports of 1.5m tonnes in 2013-14 thanks to the extent of devastation caused by the two years of civil war between rebels and the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the United Nations food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, said.
The figure is significantly higher than the 600,000 tonnes that the US Department of Agriculture believes Syria will import in 2013-14, with the International Grains Council putting the figure at