Production of Crops to Reach 200m Tons by 2023

February 3, 1999 - 0:0
TEHRAN Production of agricultural products will have reached 200 million tons a year by 2023 if agriculture sector is provided with necessary facilities, Agriculture Minister Issa Kalantari said here on Tuesday. Kalantari said that despite negative growth in volume of facilities put at the disposal of the agriculture sector over the past 20 years, the sector has managed to develop both qualitatively and quantitatively.

He said that production of certain crops in the 20 year period showed a 4-5 fold increase and about 270 percent growth was registered on the average in the domestic crop production. Some 62 million tons of agricultural products, including 19 million tons of cereals and beans, 8.5 million tons of industrially-used herbs, 6.3 million tons of fodder, 4.85 million tons of potatoes and onions, 10.6 million tons of vegetables and summer crops, 63,000 tons of tea and 461,000 tons of dried fruits, were produced last year, he said.

Kalantari said that export of agricultural products increased to $1.003 billion last year from $360 million in 1978. (IRNA)