Iran Hopes to Increase Agro Exports

As announced by the Iranian acting minister of agriculture, the country’s value of average annual agricultural export stands at US$5 billion. Mohammad Aqa-Miri added, “We hope that we can increase the export of agricultural products with a supportive approach”. Stating that agriculture is one of the most important sectors in the field of trade, he said that with more presence of knowledge-based firms in the agriculture sector, the export from this sector has grown significantly day by day and this growth continues. The official further emphasized the development of trade relations with other countries, as well as serious support for the private sector and facilitation for the export of the country's agricultural products.

Back in late January, the chairman of Iran’s Chamber of Agricultural Guilds emphasized that incentives should be considered for agricultural production. Pointing out that the issues should be solved at the root and the solution to market regulation is not to create obstacles, Qasem Pishehvar reiterated that incentives for production should be considered. “We should increase the guaranteed purchase price of the products that we need more and reduce their bank loans profit. Good incentives should be considered for market regulation”, he added.

The chairman of the Chamber of Agricultural Guilds further stated that the government should not interfere in the agricultural sector because it is an economic sector. Pishehvar believes that the farmer's opinion has not been seen in the "cultivation model" that has been prepared and presented. Naturally, such plans will not be implemented and the farmer will do his work based on his interests and what the market dictates, he commented. He further stressed that the import and export of any product should not be stopped in order to regulate the market, “because it affects the livelihood of the farmers, and we will also lose the target markets.”

Stating that 98% of agriculture is done by the private sector and the private sector cultivates based on its interests, he said: “We should not make one-day decisions for the agriculture and export sectors. For example, because today there are a lot of tomatoes in the country, let's export and the next day we will have problems in the domestic market. The amount of production, the country's needs, and the amount of exports must be checked in advance and all the related costs should be seen.” - Tehran Times