TEHRAN – Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has said supporting the agricultural sector would lead to the preservation of the country’s water and soil resources, the ICCIMA portal reported on Saturday.

Referring to the numerous challenges that the country is facing regarding water and soil resources, Gholam-Hossein Shafeie said: “Providing bank facilities to support the agricultural sector will be effective in controlling such crises; so, the share of this sector from the country’s banking facilities should be improved.”

“The agricultural sector needs support more than ever. The food security of the society is dependent on this sector, and more attention should be paid in this regard,” he added.

The official noted that currently, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Money and Credit Council has proposed to allocate 15 percent of the country's banking facilities to the agricultural sector, which is not enough and the proposal should be amended considering the needs of this area.

Expressing regret over the allocated share for the agriculture sector, Shafeie stated: “There is no bigger and more complex issue than water for the future of the country, and determining a 15 percent share of bank facilities for the agricultural sector is disastrous.”

“The capacities of this sector should be developed enough to minimize the wastage of water resources in the agricultural sector and move this sector towards efficiency and optimization,” he added.

Over the past few years, Iranian Agriculture Ministry has been allocating a separate credit line for the mechanization of the agriculture sector every year.

Back in April, the head of Iran’s Agricultural Mechanization Development Center said some 50 trillion rials (over $178.1 million) is going to be allocated for the mechanization of the country’s agricultural sectors in the current Iranian calendar year 1401 (started on March 21).

According to Kambiz Abbasi, if the mentioned funding is provided the Agricultural Mechanization Development Center will be able to increase the total amount of facilities provided to farmers for the purchase of agricultural machinery by 25 percent.

EF/MA