The Agriculture Ministry plans to establish 2,763 hectares of greenhouses by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2019), which needs investments worth 8 trillion rials ($53.5 million), the manager of the ministry's Greenhouse Expansion Project said.
“Currently, 1,357 hectares of the targeted figure are in the final stages of construction,” Valiollah Bani-Ameri was also quoted as saying by the Young Journalists Club.
The official added that Iran has some 14,000 hectares of greenhouses, more than 12,000 hectares of which are under the cultivation of different kinds of vegetables and fruit, supporting an estimated 120,000 direct and more than 350,000 indirect jobs.
“Right now, annual production in our greenhouses stands at 3 million tons. The target set by the Agriculture Ministry is to increase the greenhouse area to 48,000 hectares by the end of the 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25)," he said, adding that more than 20 million tons of agro products will be cultivated across the area every year.
Bani-Ameri noted that 90% of the equipment used in greenhouse construction in Iran are locally-made, adding that Iran ranks second globally in terms of greenhouse expansion after Mexico and that the reimposition of sanctions will not thwart the country’s activities in the field.
Greenhouses generate 8 to 12 jobs per hectare.
The Agriculture Ministry plans to transfer all vegetable farms to greenhouses within 10 years to save 10 billion cubic meters of water per year.
Iran is home to a meager 0.3% of the world’s greenhouses.
