ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A grain silo under construction in Halabja is 90 percent complete, while work has begun on two additional silos in Koya and Zakho as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) moves to expand the Region's wheat storage capacity, a trade official said on Friday.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani laid the foundation stone for the Halabja steel silo in June 2024. Built on a 12-acre site with a budget of 27 billion Iraqi dinars (around $21 million), the project is designed to store up to 40,000 tons of wheat and was scheduled to be completed within two years.

Nawzad Sheikh Kamil, a senior official at the Kurdistan Region's trade ministry, told The New Region that the Halabja silo “has reached 90 percent completion and we hope it will be put into service for farmers next year,” adding that construction has also begun on one silo each in Erbil's Koya district and Duhok's Zakho district.

Farmers in Halabja have long faced a shortage of grain storage facilities, contributing to significant post-harvest losses and prompting the launch of the project.

Hemin Sayyid Murad, head of the Kurdistan Region's agriculture directorate, told The New Region in October that 25 dunams of land had been allocated for the Koya silo.

According to Kamil, the Kurdistan Region currently has 11 silos, five in Sulaimani province, four in Duhok province, and two in Erbil province, with a combined storage capacity of 485,000 tons of wheat.