Comparative Advantage or Self-Sufficiency? Applied Research for Determining Wheat Production Strategy in Iran

  Determining the strategy of agricultural commodities production and choosing between comparative advantage or self-sufficiency, is one of the main problems that occupied agricultural policy makers' mind in recent years. This paper tries to compare comparative advantage and self-sufficiency indices for wheat to suggest suitable wheat production strategy.   In this article we use policy analysis matrix method for calculating comparative advantage and then, after studying wheat situation from self sufficiency point of view and calculating self-sufficiency coefficient, suitable strategy for wheat has been suggested.   Calculated DRC for irrigated wheat is 0.73 and for dried wheat is 0.72 and this indicates a comparative advantage of wheat in Iran. Protection indices results also show the presence of government protecting wheat production.   Self-sufficiency coefficient result indicates that protection of wheat has caused the enhancement of self-sufficiency coefficient of wheat in recent years in addition to an access to self-sufficiency boundary, thus we can conclude that in special case of wheat production, self-sufficiency and comparative advantages are not opposing policies therefore the expansion of wheat production to reach self-sufficiency and entering export market is suggested .     JEL: E61