Iran: The country will be soon self-sufficient in barley production

Iran will soon be self-sufficient in barely production in the light of the efforts and policies being implemented, the Minister of Agricultural Jihad Mohammadreza Eskandari announced on November 6, according to Iranian news agency Mehr News.

At the moment, over 1.6 million ha of land is under barley cultivation, of which, 700,000 ha is allocated to water farming and 940,000 ha is that of dry farming. The average production in dry and water cultivations is 900 kg and 3,100 kg per hectare respectively, and self-sufficiency would be achieved once the targeted figures of 1,184 kg and 3,600 kg per ha are met correspondingly, Eskandari added.

Pointing to 67,000 ha increase for barley production in Khorasan Province in the current year, “Khorasan Razavi, North and South Khorasan provinces will be getting shares of 30,000, 25,000 and 12,000 ha in that order,” the minister maintained.

“This increase implies by no means any reduction in colza or wheat under cultivation,” he said in conclusion.

09 November, 2005