Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 20
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Trade turnover between Iran and the EU is $20 billion and only $3 billion accounts to agricultural sector, which is a very low figure, deputy minister of Agricultural Jihad in charge of commerce, agricultural industries, Ali Akbar Mehrfard said at Iran, EU agricultural cooperation seminar in Tehran, ILNA reported.
Iran's agricultural exports amount to $6 billion, Mehrfard said, adding that in total Iran's production reaches 122 million tons. He noted that of the total production 16 million tons account for cattle breeding, 22 million tons - orchards, two million tons for fishery and the rest account for crops.
There are 20,000 industrial facilities for agricultural production and their potential production capacity is 150 million tons, Mehrfard said.
During Hasan Ruhani's presidency, $8 billion were invested in the water sector, which led to an increase in production, Mehrfard said.
For example, wheat production has grown despite the decrease in the total area of cultivated fields, he added.
Mehrfard stressed that environmental protection is one of the strategies of Iran's agriculture.