TEHRAN- The head of Iran’s Livestock Provision Council called on the government to purchase the red meat at guaranteed prices to support the producers.

Making the remarks in an interview by IRNA on Friday, Mansour Pourian also recommended the exports of livestock to support the producers and also bring foreign revenue for the country.

Saying that the purchase of red meat at guaranteed prices started in the country in the middle of the fourth Iranian calendar month of Tir (early July), Pourian announced that 4,000 tons of red meat have been purchased in this way by the State Livestock Affairs Logistics Company since then.

The purchase of red meat at guaranteed prices is already done in 15 provinces, including Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan, Gilan, Alborz, Yazd, Isfahan, Fars, Sistan-Baluchestan, Khuzestan, East Azarbaijan, and Semnan, he said, adding that it will be then conducted in the other provinces as well.

The Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) has announced that the production of red meat in the country stood at 37,100 tons in the fifth month of the current Iranian calendar year (July 22-August 21), showing 41 percent growth compared to the same month in the past year.

The SCI’s report said that beef and veal had the lion’s share in the country’s red meat output during the fifth month with 21,400 tons, followed by lamb and mutton with 12,300 tons, and red meat from other livestock with 669 tons. 

Iran’s deputy agriculture minister, Morteza Rezaei, has recently said that the total production of red and chicken meat is expected to reach 3.5 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2021).

He said red meat production will reach 880,000 tons, while chicken meat output is expected to reach 2.7 million tons.

“Considering the measures taken, the egg production will reach 1,650,000 tons, the honey output will reach 113,000 tons, and the production of fresh silk cocoons will reach 1,650,000 tons”, the official added.

Pointing to the per capita consumption of protein products in the country, Rezaei said: “Currently the per capita consumption of red meat is 12.5 kilograms, chicken meat 31.25 kilograms, raw milk 124 kilograms, eggs 11.72 kilograms and honey 1.35 kilograms.”

Iran is among the leading consumers of red meat in the West Asia region with lamb being the most sought after.

However, the consumption per person is around a third of what is normally seen in countries like the U.S. and Australia, mainly due to the prohibition of pork in Islamic law.

The major part of Iran’s red meat imports comes from countries like Brazil, where Iranian supervisors directly control culling methods to ensure they comply with religious rules.

MA/MA