Speaking at a meeting held on Monday to discuss problems of agricultural sector and status of production and export of medicinal plants, Eskandar Zand said that Iran exports $400 million of medicinal plants annually, 80% of which is saffron. He added that Iran has tremendous potential in the field of medicinal plants. He noted that Iran can become more effective in this field if proper training courses are offered to the relevant personnel.
Zand is Deputy Agriculture Minister and Head of the Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, affiliated to Ministry of Agriculture Jihad.
The meeting was held at Imam Khomeini Higher Education Center in Fardis’ Meshkin Dasht.
He said that the Plan and Budget Organization’s Office of Scientific, Cultural and Social Affairs is currently reviewing a comprehensive training plan for medicinal plants. This plan can help provide highly trained individuals for the field of medicinal plants.
He said that the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad has been discussing the issue for the past one year as part of its contribution to strengthen Iran’s drive towards self-sufficiency. The activities would be towards research, training and promoting the sector.
He said, “With proper targeting, we can expect a market of over $3 billion in the short term for the country.”
The Deputy Agricultural Minister said that Imam Khomeini Higher Education Center has now become a scientific university which trains entrepreneurs. Noting that one of the problems of higher education in the world and Iran is the education of entrepreneurs, he said that Ministry of Agriculture Jihad is prepared to steer all agricultural training centers, which are mainly engaged in educating apprentices and farmers, towards training entrepreneurs.
He said that the one of the main goals of these training centers is to offer Greenhouse training course to 100 people. Another priority for the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad is to offer a comprehensive training course for medicinal herbs as part of Iran’s plans for self-sufficiency.
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