Iran eyes over 4% increase in annual farm output

on June 28, 2021 | 10:21:33

Iranian authorities say annual farm output will further increase at the end of the current calendar year ending March 2021 as the country keeps relying on exports from the sector as a major source of earning hard currency.

A senior agriculture ministry official said on Saturday that total farm output in Iran would top 128 million metric tons next year, an increase of just over four percent compared to figures recorded in March 2020.

Shahrokh Shajari said the agriculture sector in Iran has grown by almost a quarter since 2013 when the current administrative government took office.

Shajari said the surge in production of agrifood is expected to take place across the sector, including for livestock, fruits and fisheries which are responsible for a bulk of exports from Iran to neighboring countries.

Government figures show the gross value added growth in the Iranian agriculture sector for the year to late March 2020 was nearly nine percent.

Shajari, who serves as deputy agriculture minister for planning, said the rate of growth in Iran’s farming sector has always outpaced the total economic growth without considering the share of oil incomes.

Better precipitation and increased exports to neighboring countries have contributed to a rapid expansion of the agriculture sector in Iran over the past years.

That comes as more than a third of Iran’s population of nearly 85 million still depend on farming for their livelihood.

The agriculture sector used to account for nearly 15 percent of the Iranian economy more than a decade ago although the share declined with gradual increase in government’s oil incomes.

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