TEHRAN – Iran exported about $100 million worth of irrigation equipment in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21), the deputy head of the Agriculture Ministry’s water and soil department said.

Safdar Niazi Shahraki said the equipment was exported to 18 countries, mainly in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia, as well as Turkey, Iraq and Persian Gulf states.

Speaking at a press conference on the 10th Iran International Agriculture Exhibition, he said declining water resources in the agricultural sector made the use of science, technology and higher productivity essential to sustain production, safeguard food security and reduce reliance on imports.

Niazi Shahraki said the exhibition would be held over three days from Friday and would bring together farmers, experts, extension workers, managers and other agricultural sector stakeholders.

He stressed that science and technology were the backbone of agricultural development, adding that sustainable production and food supply required investment and the adoption of modern technologies, particularly in water efficiency and irrigation performance.

EF/MA