Iran’s Agro Exports Rise Up by Total Average Growth

Minister of Agricultural-Jihad Mahmud Hojjati, speaking at the first seminar on ‘Agriculture and National Development’ in Tehran, added that the agricultural section constitutes 17 percent of Iran’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as 27 percent of the whole employed population.

“According to the latest report by Iran’s Central Bank (CBI), the growth rate and added value of the section stands at about 11.7 percent.”

During the last decade, due to a 4-year period of drought, the VA of the agricultural section has been reported to be a maximum of four percent.

Agricultural exports have doubled in comparison with the country’s total export growth in the first six months of the year, Hojjati stated. “From 2000 to 2002, some 4.7 percent of the investments has been made in agriculture,” he added.

“We discuss ways of attracting pecuniary resources for the section,” the minister said, saying that some factors within the agricultural section alongside external elements have discouraged both domestic and foreign investors from taking part in the industry. The structure of Iran’s agricultural section is, however, so intricately designed that no external resources can be spent therein, Hojjati said.

Meanwhile, he added, exchange reserve funds have always been inappropriately used in Iran’s agriculture, adding, “Our total share of the Fund resources does not exceed $2 million.” That is while the industrial section seeks 17% of its VA amount as well as 46% of its export value from agriculture-related industries, he said.

Pointing to the recent growth in agricultural production, Hojjati stated that milk, chicken, wheat, and corn respectively corroborated 12, 15, 20, and 40 percent growth during the current Iranian year.  

The first seminar on ‘Agriculture and National Development’, which is to be conducted by an outstanding Iranian-foreign figures, kicked off yesterday in Tehran. The Iranian minister of Agricultural-Jihad, head of Management and Planning Organization, representatives from FAO- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and a number of domestic and foreign experts have attended the occasion.    

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MNA