Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.9/ Trend F.Milad /
Iran's agricultural growth rate currently stands at 1.4 per cent, an official with the Iran Central Chamber of Cooperatives said on Saturday.
It is while based on the Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2011) the growth rate was supposed to reach 6.4 percent, the Mowj News Agency quoted Mohammad Taqi Lashgari as saying.
"Iran currently produces 110,000 tons of agricultural products per year, while based on the Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan it was supposed to hit 150,000 tons," he said.
Deputy Iranian Agriculture Jihad Minister Naser Tavakoli said last week that the garden products' output of Iran has increased by more than 4.5-fold in the past 34 years.
Iran currently produces some 118 million tons of garden products per year, he said, noting that 34 years ago Iran's garden products' output stood at 25 million tons.
It is while the country's population has been doubled in the past 34 years.
Iranian private sector has bought 2,000 hectares of land in Georgia in order to produce corn and other oilseeds, Tavakoli added.
The private sector is studying some other Central Asian and Islamic countries in order to boost country's agriculture overseas and meet domestic demands, the Fars News Agency quoted Tavakoli as saying.
He went on to note that Iran is the world's largest pistachio and saffron exporter.
Esma'eil Abbaspour, an official with the Agricultural Jihad Ministry said last week that by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic ?Development Plan (March 2016), Iran's annual garden product's output should reach 300 million tons.
Iran is the Middle East and North Africa's greatest producer of garden products, and ranks 8th or 9th in the world, an official with the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad said on October 22.
Iran has been ranked between 8th and 10th in global fruit production in different years.
In the productions of pomegranates and pistachios Iran ranks first, in dates and cherries, 3rd, 4th in the production of apples and walnuts, and, 7th in producing citrus fruits. 50 kinds of fruits are grown in Iran .
The record for pomegranate production is 100 tons in a hectare of land, 146 ton for apples and 70 tons for oranges.
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