Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Iran has announced plans to increase the area for wheat planting by 500,000 hectares to 2.25 million hectares. The increased planting may allow the wheat crop to reach 5.2 million MT, assuming good rainfall. Iran is still expected to have to import close to 5 MMT of wheat. Barley planting will be on 1.25 million hectares.  Critics in Pakistan are saying that the country is lagging far behind in the use of advanced technology, like GMO, in agriculture. GM maize trials in the country showed yield increases that range from 10 to 45 percent. The government says that it is able to support the use of GM cotton but will have to do more research before adopting GM maize as maize enters the...