Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 2
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
Some five million hectares of land in Iran has gone under the cultivation of wheat, Esmaeil Esfandiaripour, an official with Iran's agriculture ministry said.
The total area under the cultivation of wheat was increased by 2.9 percent compared to the year before (ended March 21), Esfandiaripour said, Fars news agency reported Dec. 2.
The official is also in charge of the "Wheat Project", a government plan to purchase crop from farmers at a guaranteed price.
The official said that some 1.6 million hectares of land are under irrigated farming, meanwhile 3.37 million hectares are under dried farming.
Wheat cultivation in various areas of country will continue until the end of December, he said, adding the cultivation program is materialized by 84 percent so far.
The government bought eight million tons of wheat from farmers in the current Iranian fiscal year (started March 20), 40 percent up compared to the preceding year.
Iran has set the target of achieving wheat self-sufficiency in three to four years.
Wheat is the dominant crop cultivated in Iran, accounting for almost 70 percent of aggregate cereal production, according to Business Monitor International.
Irrigated wheat covers almost one-third of the total wheat area. As a result, the bulk of the wheat crop depends on the performance of seasonal precipitation. Most of the rain-fed wheat crop is concentrated in the northwestern region of the country.
Iran increasing land for wheat cultivation
Some five million hectares of land in Iran has gone under the cultivation of wheat, Esmaeil Esfandiaripour, an official with Iran’s agriculture ministry said.