Agro Machinery Output Meets 90% of Domestic Demand

Agricultural machinery exports reached $6 million during the first three months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), a deputy minister of industries, mining and trade said.

“At present, more than 90% of the domestic demand for agro machinery are met through local production and only 10% are imported,” Mojtaba Khosrotaj was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

The official, who is also the president of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization, said domestic producers are now looking for a share of the international market, as Iran’s production capacity and product quality have improved.

According to Morteza Shahidzadeh, director general of Keshavarzi Bank, last year banking facilities worth 11 trillion rials (over $288 million) were allocated for agricultural mechanization.

Kambiz Abbasi, the head the Agricultural Mechanization Expansion Center with the Ministry of Agriculture, said in mid July the government will invest about 15 trillion rials ($395.5 million) in agricultural mechanization in the current Iranian year (March 2017-18), 25% more compared with last year’s investment.

“Of the total sum, about $211 million, $80 million, $40 million, $20 million and $10.5 million will be allocated to the fields of farming, horticulture, livestock and poultry, fisheries and seafood, and medicinal herbs respectively,” he was also quoted as saying by ILNA.

Abbasi noted that since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2013, 52.5 trillion rials (over $1.38 billion) worth of investments have gone into the mechanization of different fields of agriculture.