TEHRAN -– Iran annually exports an average of about 16,000 tons of medicinal plants. The value of the products is estimated to amount to around $40 million.

Ministry of Agricultural Jihad in collaboration with the Ministry of Health has set up a committee tasked with the development of the medicinal plants industry in the nation, an official at the Agricultural Jihad Ministry said.

Site surveying aimed at the identification of potential lands for the cultivation of medicinal plants, maintaining hygiene standards during the production and packaging processes of the products as well as supervision over the shops where medicinal plants are sold are among the major measures taken by the committee, a report quoted the official as saying on Tuesday.

Moreover, required coordination have been made with the nation’s Forestry and Rangeland Organization to facilitate the domestication of the wild medicinal plants abundant in the country, he said adding that the issue is top on the agenda of the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad.