Rice Production Automation Investment Hits $156m

The government of President Hassan Rouhani has invested 6 trillion rials (about $156 million) on the mechanization of rice production, said an official with the Ministry of Agriculture, describing the investment as “unprecedented”.

“Given the water shortage in Iran, the administration is not willing to expand paddy fields in provinces other than the northern Mazandaran and Gilan,” Kambiz Abbasi added. 

According to the official, automation would cut rice harvesting costs by up to 70%, IRNA reported. 

“The government will cover about 80% of the costs of buying the machinery by granting loans with a 15% interest rate,” he said. 

Abbasi said pre-harvest, harvest and post-harvest stages of rice production in 250,000 hectares of paddy fields have become automated under the Rouhani government, adding that previously only 100,000 hectares were mechanized.  

Iranians consume about 3.2 million tons of rice a year while domestic production stands at around 2.2 million tons. Therefore, there is a need for around 1 million tons of imports every year. 

The government periodically places a ban on imports during the harvest season to support local farmers.