IRIB quoted Sadeq Khalilian as predicting that the country’s agricultural output would surpass 118 million tons in the current year, which will be a significant growth in this key sector of the Iranian economy.
Khalilian added that by implementing imports management plan in last year, the volume of imported agricultural crops declined 30 percent. He hopes that the trend will continue in current year.
Majlis approved a bill last year to ban imports of non-essential agricultural crops. According to the law, the importation of 49 agricultural products was restricted.
Khalilian hoped that Iran’s self-efficiency in agro-food sector would improve to 95 percent this year, which will be a great success for the country.
The minister remarked that Iran exported more than 5.1 billion dollars worth of processed and non-processed crops in last year.
The diversity of climate in Iran has provided a good potentiality for producing varieties of agricultural products. Iran now is the largest producer of some crops such as pistachio, caviar and saffron, according to FAO statistics.
HL/MG
MNA
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