The agriculture jihad ministry in a directive has banned rice cultivation in 14 provinces. Earlier, rice was cultivated in 16 provinces, said Jamil Alizadeh Shayegh, secretary of the national Rice Association.
According to agriculture jihad statistics, the domestic production of rice is 2 million tons but the actual requirement based on per capita consumption is 40 kg and therefore the total need is about 3 million tons, Mehr News Agency reported.
“Given that we have 1 million tons of rice remaining from the previous year’s imports, and this year with production having reached 2 million tons, there is enough rice for the current year, (ending March 20) Alizadeh Shayegh said.
However, reports from the customs indicate that in the first 9 months of the current year, one million tons of rice has entered the country; therefore we can conclude there is one ton excess rice in the country, he noted.
The import of additional quantity of rice and banning of rice cultivation in 14 provinces are contradictory to the policy of supporting domestic production, the official pointed out.
