Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 27
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran harvested 1.8 million tons of rice this year, some 150,000 tons more year-on-year, Kaveh Khaksar, an official with the country's agricultural ministry said.
He said that Iran's yearly rice consumption stands at some 3 million tons, adding rice imports should be carried out under accurate planning in order not to harm domestic rice production.
Due to surplus amount of stored rice from past years a ban was imposed on rice imports this year, but there is still a need to import to meet total domestic consumption, Khaksar said, Iran's Fars news agency reported Oct. 27.
Last year Iranian MP Mehrdad Baouj-Lahouti said that the country imported five times more rice than the country's total import need.
Last July said Ahmad Behhaq, head of the Iranian rice importers association said that rice worth $302 million was imported illegally to Iran in the first four months of the current Iranian fiscal year, started on March 21.
He pointed out that the 40 percent tariff on legal imports has stirred the smuggling of rice into the country.
Tehran plans to reach self-sufficiency in rice production in the coming years.
Iran was supposed to reach self-sufficiency in the rice production field by March, 2013, according to the agriculture ministry's plan, but officials announced that the plan needs another three years to be completed.
Edited by CN
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