Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Iran exported 5.06 million tons of agricultural and food products worth $ 4.76 billion in March-December 2018, registering an increase in value of 15.3 percent compared with the corresponding period last year.

According to the latest report of the National Center for Strategic Studies in Agriculture and Water Resources, which is based on data provided by the Iran Customs Administration, growth over the nine-month period is record high compared with the corresponding periods of previous years, the Financial Tribune reported.

During the reporting period, exports of agri-food products amounted to 5.8 percent and 14.3 percent of the total volume and value of non-oil exports of Iran, which is at the level of 86.94 million tons, worth $33.35 billion.

Imports of agro-industrial products fell by 4.9 percent over the same period.

Exports mainly included fruits and vegetables in the amount of $1.84 billion, while corn was the largest agri-food product imported at 1.49 billion.

In Iran, agriculture has been developing rapidly in recent years. Arable land accounts for 20 percent of the entire territory of Iran. Most of these lands are located in the north, closer to the Caspian Sea, and also in the relatively wet valleys in the north-west. Some arable land in the flat but arid southern provinces is equipped with irrigation systems. A total of 7.5 million hectares of land are irrigated.

There are 51 million hectares of land suitable for agriculture in the country, but only 15 million hectares are actually cultivated and participate in agricultural circulation. The reason is adverse natural factors, in particular arid climate and mountainous terrain.

Among the most important crops are wheat, barley, rice, legumes, cotton, sugar beets, sugar cane, tobacco, tea, nuts, pistachios.

Livestock breeding is based on the breeding of sheep, goats, camels, cattle.

Most of the acreage is reserved for cereals - wheat, barley and rice. Wheat and barley are grown mainly on non-irrigated land in the western and northern regions of the country, and rice - on irrigated fields on the coast of the Caspian Sea.

The leading cash crops include cotton, sugar beet, oilseeds and tobacco. Two state sugar cane plantations have been established in Khuzestan.

In Iran, many spices are produced (saffron, cumin), root crops (licorice), medicinal and gum-bearing (tragacanth, ferula stinky and gum-bearing) plants that are mainly exported are cultivated.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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