BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Iran exported five million tons of medicinal plant extracts and essential oils worth over $450 million in the first nine months (from March 21 to Dec. 21, 2019) of the current Iranian year, Hossein Zeynali, medical plants project manager of Iran's Agricultural Jihad Ministry, said, Trend reports with reference to the ministry.
As much as $200 million of this amount accounted for saffron, while the rest fell to the share of other plants, Zeynali said.
Iran's Agricultural Jihad Ministry aims to export medicinal plants after procession, and thus reduce their exports as raw materials, the ministry official added.
Medicinal plants play an important role in Iran's economy in terms of employment growth, non-oil exports, economic development and many more, Hossein Zeynali said.
Over 1,700 medicinal plants grow in Iran, and they can bring large amount of foreign currency to the country, Zeynali added.