TEHRAN, Iran, Sept. 20
Trend:
Iran is on the verge of becoming self-sufficient in agricultural products, said head of Agricultural Planning Economic and Rural Development Research Institute (APERDRI) Ali Kiani Raad, Trend reports citing Mehr News Agency.
He noted that yet at the moment Iran doesn't have capacity for self-sufficiency in sugar cane, sugar beet, corn and oil seeds production.
There should be mechanism for supporting final consumers and offering subsidies to achieve self- sufficiency, he said.
He noted that it is hard to have self-sufficiency in production of oil seeds, sugar beet, sugar cane and corn since these products consume considerable amount of water.
"Iran has a 50 percent possibility of self-sufficiency in oil seeds production and if Iran's per capita consumption of oil reduces, it can reach the remaining 50 percent," he explained.
In terms of sugar consumption Iran's per capita consumption of sugar is 40 percent more than the average global rate, said Kiani Raad.
"Iran is is moving toward self-sufficiency in sugar beet production by changing the cultivation time from spring to autumn, by reducing water consumption and reforming prices," he said.
Meanwhile, Iran's wheat harvest has been enough to make the county self-sufficient in the production of this strategic crop over the past five years.