TEHRAN- Iranian farmers are expected to produce 2.2 million tons of rice during the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21) to register a 20-percent increase year on year, Deputy Agriculture Minister Alireza Mohajer said.

“With this increase in production, more than 70 percent of the country's rice demand can be supplied by domestic farmers,” Tasnim news agency quoted Mohajer as saying.

According to the official, the country’s current annual demand for rice is about three million tons.

Based on official statistics, over 620,000 hectares of Iran’s agricultural lands are under rice cultivation, of which 520,000 hectares are in Mazandaran, Gilan and Golestan provinces.

EF/MA