Iran’s Agro Exports Not Water Intensive

Less than 5 billion cubic meters of water are annually used in the cultivation of all of Iran’s exported agricultural products, a deputy agriculture minister said.

“These items are pistachio, dates, grapes, watermelon and potato, none of which is water-intensive. For the cultivation of pistachio and dates, for instance, salty water is used and people need not worry that a lot of water is used to grow agro products for exports,” Abbas Keshavarz was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

Last year, the Ministry of Agriculture explained that contrary to common belief, watermelon is not a water-intensive crop following complaints that its export was unjustified because of the acute water shortage in Iran.

Keshavarz explained that vegetables consume high amounts of water and this is why the government plans to expand the greenhouse cultivation of these products.

The Ministry of Agriculture plans to transfer all vegetable farms to greenhouses within 10 years to save 10 billion cubic meters of water annually.