TEHRAN, Iran, August 17. Iran Ministry of Agriculture plans to develop overseas farming that would include production of corn, soy, barley, and oil seeds such as sunflower seed and rapeseed, said the manager of overseas farming project Mohsen Shaterzadeh, Trend reports citing Mehr News Agency.
The country will annually import 15 million tons of the following four products and the Ministry of Agriculture will provide advances to applicants who want to invest in the projects, he said adding that applicants should at least produce 50,000 tons of products to receive loans.
The qualified companies would sign contracts with the ministry for producing crops and the ministry's guarantee for the purchase of products, he pointed out.
The National Development Fund and the Central Bank of Iran will offer foreign exchange loans to applicants.
According to the official, applicants were more interested in overseas farming in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Brazil while there were some that wanted to invest in farming in Azerbaijan, Ivory coast, Ghana, and Madagascar.
Several Iranian private companies are currently active in overseas farming in Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan.