TEHRAN- As announced by a provincial official, 140 billion rials (about $326,000) has been allocated to the implementation of modern irrigation systems development plans in Hormozgan province, in the south of Iran, in the current crop year (started on September 23, 2022).

Abdol-Ali Moradi, the water and soil director of the province’s Agriculture Department, said that the province ranks first in modern irrigation in terms of cultivated area and implementation.

Currently, the cultivated area of the province is 161,000 hectares, of which 112,000 hectares (70 percent of all lands) are equipped with the modern irrigation system, the official said.

The project manager of Iranian Agriculture Ministry’s smart irrigation systems development program has said 25,000 hectares of the country’s farmlands have been equipped with modern irrigation systems in the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 21-August 22, 2022).

Fariborz Abbasi, who is the head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Water and Soil Department, has said his ministry is planning to establish modern irrigation systems for 50,000 hectares of farmlands in the current year (ends on March 20).

The deputy agriculture minister noted that this year the ministry has allocated 15 trillion rials (about $35 million) for the implementation of new irrigation systems.

He pointed to the supply and production of equipment for modern irrigation systems inside the country and said: "With the cooperation and help of domestic knowledge-based companies, we have reached self-sufficiency in the production of equipment and supplies for these systems."

Abbasi further mentioned his ministry’s smart agriculture program and said that the smartening projects are being implemented on 4,000 hectares of the country's farmlands as a pilot in 13 provinces.

“In smart agriculture human intervention in irrigation management and planning is minimized by using new technologies,” he explained.

The official expressed hope that considering the budget allocation for the provinces at the beginning of the current Iranian year, the ministry would be able to develop the project in terms of both quantity and quality.

The purpose of implementing the plan of modern irrigation systems is to increase the productivity and sustainability of water and soil resources in the country to ensure the sustainable production of agricultural products.

Over the past three years, each year, an average of 150,000 hectares of farmlands have been equipped with modern irrigation systems, and we have witnessed a 300 percent jump.

The Agriculture Ministry is also taking the necessary measures for supporting the domestic manufacturing of equipment used in these systems.

MA/MA