Plans are underway to increase the area under cultivation of medicinal plants for commercial purposes by 9,000 hectares to reach 49,000 hectares, says an official with the Ministry of Agriculture.
“As we speak, around 147,000 tons of herbs are commercially grown on 40,000 hectares of fields,” Peyman Yousefi-Azar was also quoted as saying by IRNA. Yousefi-Azar put the value of medicinal plants exports (excluding saffron and Damask rose) at $150 million annually.
“As per a decade-long plan, 20 species of plants will be grown on 500,000 hectares of farmland,” he said. Iran exported medicinal plants worth $91 million in the last Iranian year (March 2015-16), including $4.7 million worth of caraway, $13.2 million of coriander, $6.6 million of henna and $13.4 million of Damask roses.
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