The Agriculture Ministry plans to launch its cropping program as of September.
“The pilot program pertains to the cultivation of wheat, barley, soybean, cotton, colza and corn,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Mohammad Qorbani said.
He was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency that details of the program will be announced before the upcoming crop year.
According to the official, the program is aimed at increasing production of essential goods and reducing the cultivation of water-intensive crops.
Also known as necessity or basic goods, essential goods are products consumers will buy, regardless of changes in income levels.
Cropping pattern refers to the proportion of land under cultivation of different crops at different points of time and specifies their arrangement in a particular area.
“We are planning to do this by restricting the land under cultivation of vegetables and levying export taxes on these products,” he said, adding that the ministry has considered incentives for farmers who opt for the production of above-mentioned crops.
Qorbani said vegetables are cultivated on over 714,000 hectares in Iran, of which 26.6 million tons of products are harvested every year.
About 8.4 million tons of vegetable worth $5.2 billion are exported from the country per year.
Experts have been warning for years against the cultivation of water-intensive crops, stressing that Iran is a dry country with limited arable land that needs to focus on using its limited water and soil resources to produce essential goods.
Market Dynamics
Alireza Mohajer, another deputy agriculture minister, says the main hurdle facing the implementation of cropping pattern in Iran is the ongoing market dynamics.
“When farmers see that the potato market is much more profitable than that of wheat, they decide to cultivate potato, which requires more water,” he was quoted as saying by IRIB News.
The deputy minister said the Agriculture Ministry cannot force farmers to stick to the cropping pattern program; what it can only do is offer incentives.
“Farmers usually prefer to cultivate vegetables instead of essential crops because they are more expensive in the consumer market. This is while these products are more water-intensive than most grains,” he said.
“Another reason for farmers’ preference for vegetable cultivation is the export prices of these products. Vegetables are more expensive than grains in the markets of our neighboring countries, which makes exports of these goods more profitable.”
Mohajer noted that for the cropping pattern program to be successful, all government bodies, including the ministries of energy and industries, should cooperate with the Agriculture Ministry.
Rising Agrifood Trade Deficit
Data released by the Agriculture Ministry show Iran exported 8.48 million tons of agricultural and food products worth $5.23 billion in the fiscal 2021-22 (ended March 20).
The figures indicate a 4.06% decline in tonnage and a 15.84% fall in value year-on-year.
Pistachio topped the list of exports in terms of value with $914.43 million.
Tomato was the second major agricultural export product in terms of value with $384.49 million, followed by dates with $305.23 million, apple with $278.95 million and watermelon with $208.58 million.
In terms of tonnage, apple topped the list with 985,440 tons, watermelon with 902,100 tons, followed by tomato with 824,660 tons, potato with 600,860 tons and onion with 372,690 tons.
Agronomic products accounted for 5.25 million tons worth $1.87 billion of total exports, down 3.26% in terms of tonnage and down 9.97% in terms of value.
Horticultural exports amounted to 2.5 million tons worth $2.53 billion, down 3.89% in terms of tonnage and down 21.02% in value respectively.
Exports of livestock and poultry products reached 581,970 tons worth $561.12 million, down 13.72% in tonnage and 17.12% in value.
The veterinary sector exported 1,090 tons of products worth $10.76 million, up 23.15% and 37.61% in weight and value respectively.
The fisheries sector exported 121,410 tons worth $221.02 million, posting a rise of 9.72% and 5.92% in total volume and value respectively.
Exports from the forest and rangeland sector hit 21,360 tons worth $29.91 million, up 6.16% in tonnage but down 5.73% in value.
Iran exported 8.83 million tons of agricultural and food products worth $6.21 billion in the fiscal 2020-21.
Agrifood imports reached 31.49 million tons worth $17.9 billion in the fiscal 2021-22, indicating a 32.84% and 64.03% growth in volume and value respectively.
Corn had the biggest share of imports in terms of value with $3.37 billion, followed by edible oils with $2.74 billion, wheat with $2.49 billion, GM soybeans with $1.41 billion and soymeal with $1.27 billion.
In terms of tonnage, feed corn topped imports with 9.74 million tons, followed by wheat with 7.08 million tons, barley with 3.34 million tons, soymeal with 2.34 million tons and GM soybeans with 2.15 million tons.
Agronomic products accounted for 29.81 million tons worth $14.96 billion of total imports, up 32.42% and 70.7% in volume and value respectively YOY.
Horticultural products stood at 1.42 million tons worth $1.8 billion, up 38.05% and 39.91% in volume and value respectively.
Imports of livestock and poultry products hit 216,720 tons worth $652.38 million, rising 115.15% in tonnage and up 46.82% in value.
The veterinary sector imported 5,581 tons worth $400.58 million, rising by 46.36% and 28.28% in tonnage and value respectively.
Imports by the fisheries sector amounted to 11,460 tons worth $31.94 million, down 41.98% and 32.85% in tonnage and value respectively.
The forest and rangeland sector’s imports totaled 33,090 tons worth $55.42 million, down 28.88% and 4.78% in tonnage and value respectively.
The export and import volumes indicate that Iran recorded an agrifood trade deficit of 23.01 million tons in tonnage and $12.67 billion in value during the period.
Impact of Drought
The growth in agrifood imports comes amid the rising import of essential goods and decline in production, which is partly due to water shortage and drought.
Unloading of essential goods at Iranian ports of entry reached 2.17 million tons during the first month of the current Iranian year (March 21-April 20), registering an 11% rise compared with the similar period of last year, according to figures released by the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran.
In a report, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture has warned agricultural officials of an imminent drought that would cripple the country’s agricultural activities and hamper economic growth in this sector in the current Iranian year (March 2021-22).
The ICCIMA report says precipitation levels have fallen drastically.
The Majlis Research Center has released a list of Iranian provinces in a critical state of water shortage: Isfahan, Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Ardabil, Fars, Markazi and Khorasan Razavi.
“Drought has inflicted 670 trillion rials [$2.2 billion] in losses on Iran’s agriculture sector since the beginning of the current crop year,” Mohammad Mousavi, director general of the Agriculture Ministry’s Crisis Management Department, said in June 2021.
Assessments carried out over 11.2 million hectares of farmlands in 30 provinces show 43% of the total losses pertained to the decline in agronomic production, as well as 26% to horticultural products, 13% to fisheries and livestock, and 11% to forage crops, he said in June last year.
“In addition, 4% of the total damage are to blame on problems created in water transportation infrastructures, such as pools, pipes, aqueducts and springs, and 3% of losses can be attributed to water supply complications and the animal feed used by nomads,” he said.
“Beside the decline in precipitation rate, an increase in heatwaves and evaporation, and the inappropriate distribution of rainfall, have resulted in drought that had adverse consequences for the agriculture sector.”
Reports by Iran Meteorological Organization show that 92% of the country have been affected by drought at different levels: 20% of the country’s area are facing extreme drought, 28% severe drought, 25% moderate drought and 19% of the country are becoming abnormally dry, while only 8% of the country are having normal conditions.
