Iran’s agricultural production is expected to reach 128 million tons by the end of the current fiscal year (March 19) to witness a 6-million-ton increase compared with last year’s output, according to deputy agriculture minister for horticultural affairs.
Mohammad Ali Tahmasebi was also quoted as saying by IRNA that horticultural output has reached 23 million tons and fishery production stands at 930,000 tons so far this year.
He also noted that the Mazandaran Agro Export Terminal, which will be constructed in a 31-hectare area and have a capacity of sorting and maintaining 330,000 tons of products, has started.
Mazandaran Province produces 7 million tons of agro products per year. It has an 11% share in the country’s value-added in the agricultural sector.
According to former agriculture minister, Mahmoud Hojjati, Iran meets 85% of its demand for agricultural products domestically and the remaining 15% are provided through imports.
According to the ex-minister, $80 billion worth of agricultural products are produced in Iran every year, $75 billion of which are consumed inside the country.
Director General of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade's Food, Medicine and Toiletries Industries Department Mehdi Sadeqi Niyaraki said 95% of Iran’s food industry are owned by the private sector, noting that the sector accounts for 15% of the country’s industrial employment.
Iran ranks among top 10 producers of many horticultural products, including but not limited to pistachios, dates, apples, cherries, pomegranates and grapes, in the world.
According to Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnasser Hemmati, the agriculture sector registered the highest growth rate of +9.5% during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22).
At 6.5%, the agriculture sector also registered the highest growth among Iran's economic sectors in Q1. The rate for last year's corresponding period stood at 0.3%.
The significant boost in agricultural production owes largely to abundant rainfall at the beginning of the year, which led to increased crop yields.
Q1-3 Agrifood Trade
More than 5 million tons of agricultural and food products worth close to $4.1 billion were exported from Iran during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Dec. 21).
The value of exports registers a 13.8% rise compared with last year's corresponding period, according to the latest report released by the National Agriculture and Water Strategic Research Center, which draws on data provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
Agrifood exports accounted for 5.6% and 16.6% of the total volume and value of Iran's non-oil exports of 103.58 million tons worth $31.9 billion respectively during the period under review, the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture reported.
The exports included fruits worth $1.28 billion, vegetables worth $925.4 million, milk and dairy products worth $325.9 million, saffron worth $199.6 million and fish and shrimps worth $165.6 million, accounting for 31.2%, 22.6%, 8%, 4.9% and 4% of the total value of agrifood exports respectively.
Each ton of agrifood exports was valued at $819 on average, which is 296.7% more than the price of each ton of non-oil exports ($276) over the period.
Agrifood import during the same period stood at 17.12 million tons valued at $9.28 billion, registering a 22.3% rise in value compared with the corresponding period of the preceding year.
The imports accounted for 75.2% and 51.7% of the total volume and value of Iran’s total non-oil imports of 24.97 million tons worth $31.83 billion respectively.
The main imported agrifood products during the period included corn ($1.45 billion), rice ($1.17 billion), soybeans ($803.9 million), barley ($641.8 million), red meat ($611.5 million), sugar and sugar cubes ($519.2 million), tea ($318.5 million), butter ($285.3 million), fruits ($268.1 million) and tobacco and cigarettes ($174.3 million) accounting for 16.7%, 12.7%, 8.7%, 6.9%, 6.6%, 5.6%, 3.4%, 3.1%, 2.9% and 1.9% of all agrifood imports during the nine months respectively.
The above-mentioned products accounted for 68% of the total value of agrifood imports over the period.
Each ton of agrifood imports was valued at around $542, which was 68% lower than the price for each ton of imported non-oil products over the same period ($788).
The abovementioned import/export volume shows that Iran recorded an agrifood trade deficit of $5.18 billion in the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Dec. 21)–83.3% wider than in last year's corresponding period.
Agro Mechanization Coefficient on the Rise
The agricultural mechanization coefficient in Iran presently stands at 1.8 horsepower per hectare. The figure stood at 1.2 hp/ha when President Hassan Rouhabi first took office in August 2013, according to the head of Agricultural Mechanization Expansion Center affiliated to the Agriculture Ministry.
“The coefficient is expected to increase to 2.1 hp/ha by the end of Rouhani’s second term [August 2021], and to 3 hp/ha by the end of the fiscal 2031-32,” Kambiz Abbasi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
According to the official, a total of 15 trillion rials ($111.5 million) worth of investments have gone into the mechanization of different agriculture fields since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2019).
About 95% of Iran’s agricultural machinery, Abbasi said, are produced domestically and the rest is imported.
