Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran has started its first overseas farming plan in Kazakhstan, the country's deputy agriculture minister, Abbas Keshavarz said.
Iran is now cultivating wheat and oil seeds in Kazakhstan, Keshavarz said, IRNA news agency reported May 4.
The Islamic Republic has reached preliminary agreements with Ukraine, Russia and Ghana on the issue, he said, adding once the agreements signed Iran will start agricultural cultivation in the mentioned countries.
The products such as rice, corn and oil seeds which can not be produced domestically at the needed level are the target products which Iran seeks to grow on farmlands overseas.
Food security is a serious matter for Iran, given the size of its population which has grown over 80 million and seen its food basket grow smaller.
On the other hand, the semi-arid country suffers water shortage, which has forced the administration to revise its agricultural plans.
Iranian Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati already said that the administration has envisioned investment on 500,000 hectares of farmland in a number of countries to secure food supplies.