BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 21
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The share of Iran's agricultural sector in the production of domestic raw materials will be 32.5 percent, Minister of Agriculture Jihad Kazem Khavazi said in a speech at the Iranian Parliament, Trend reports citing Iranian Parliament’s official website.
Khavazi said that 4.3 million people work in Iran's agricultural sector. Their share in the production of domestic raw materials is 8 percent, or more than $40 billion.
The minister added that 18.5 million hectares of land are used in the agricultural sector in Iran.
"Iran produced 124 million tons of agricultural products and 83.5 million tons of crop products in the last Iranian year (March 21, 2019 - March 20, 2020)," he said.
Khavazi emphasized that 14 million tons of wheat is produced as a strategic product. In addition, 3.5 million tons of barley is produced. It is envisaged to produce 3.2 million tons of barley. However, Iran's barley consumption is 6.5 million tons per year.
The minister noted that Iran is expected to produce 1.5-1.7 million tons of sugar in the current Iranian year (began March 20, 2020). At the same time, the production of oilseeds will be 560,000 tons.
Khavazi added that the legume production is 680,000 tons at present, and this year it is planned to increase this production to 731,000 tons.
"Currently, cotton production in Iran is 220,000 tons. According to the development program for 2026, it is planned to increase this production to 291,000 tons," he said.
