TEHRAN- The establishment of agricultural parks in the country plays a significant role in promoting food safety, domestic production, and exports, the managing director of Iran’s Agricultural Parks Company (APC) stated.

Ali-Ashraf Mansouri also reiterated that the ground is prepared for the investors in the agriculture sector.

The official mentioned the development of greenhouses as the best way to increase the productivity of water and soil resources and said, “Therefore, we are looking to develop greenhouses in the agricultural parks.”

In late April, Mansouri had said that his company planned to create 1,000 hectares of new greenhouses in the country’s agricultural parks during the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021).

According to the official, the development of the country’s agricultural parks not only is going to create new job opportunities but also increases the country’s non-oil exports and helps preserve the environment and the national water and soil resources.

Iran has paid 8.3 trillion rials (about $197.6 million) of facilities for the development of agricultural parks across the country during the past Iranian year.

The mentioned facilities were paid for the development or construction of various agricultural parks including greenhouses, and those for aquaculture, as well as livestock and poultry breeding.

Offering such facilities and also the other supportive measures have led to the creation of more greenhouses and well as the development of the existing ones in the country.

Iran is anticipated to produce 5,000 tons of fruits and vegetables in the greenhouses throughout the country this year.

As reported, 80 percent of the country’s greenhouse fruits and vegetables are exported.

The significance of boosting agricultural export is obvious when taking the country’s recent approach to boost non-oil exports into account. The development of greenhouses is a very fruitful measure in this due.

Production of products in the greenhouses is today one of the most profitable methods in the agriculture sectors of the countries, in a way that they have defined it as one of their major production strategies because while greenhouses provide stable production of high-quality products, developing them is a proper way for tackling drought and for optimal use of water resources.

In Iran, the need for the development of greenhouses is now highly recognized, as the country is seriously following up on two main objectives of strengthening domestic production to achieve self-reliance, and boosting non-oil exports.

MA/MA