TEHRAN – Iran’s agricultural production reached 137 million tons in the past crop year despite a 15 billion-cubic-meter reduction in water allocated to the sector, a deputy agriculture minister said.
Majid Anjafi, deputy agriculture minister for crop production, said cultivated areas for vegetables, summer crops and many melons and other field crops had declined, but higher productivity and yields per hectare had helped increase overall output.
He said the Ministry of Energy allocated 15 billion cubic meters less water to agriculture than planned in the previous crop year, leaving little scope to expand cultivated land with available water resources.
Of the approximately 65 billion cubic meters of water scheduled to be supplied to agriculture under official plans, only a limited amount was allocated as water available for planned use, Anjafi said.
He warned that without improvements in productivity and a shift away from traditional farming practices, the water shortfall could have reduced agricultural output by at least 30 million tons. Production could have fallen to 100 million tons from a projected 130 million tons, he said.
However, official figures showed that total agricultural production reached 137 million tons, which Anjafi described as an exceptional achievement for the country’s farmers and agricultural sector.
The gains came despite reduced water availability and smaller cultivated areas for several crop categories, highlighting the role of improved yields in sustaining and increasing production.
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