Iran is targeting an average annual growth rate of 5% in its agriculture sector as part of the sixth five-year development plan (2016-21), says Deputy Minister of Agricultural Jihad Abdulmahdi Bakhshandeh. Iranian development plans outline government strategies in its budget planning for the next five years. “In the Third Plan, the average annual growth in the agriculture sector stood at 3%, which fell to 1.9% in the Fourth Plan,” Bakhshandeh said, adding that the rate is expected to reach 4% by the end of Fifth Plan (March 19, 2016), IRNA reported.
