Agriculture of Iran

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map of Iran's major crops, circa 1978.

Roughly one-third of Iran's total surface area is arable farmland, of which less than one-fourth—or one-tenth of the total land area—is under cultivation, because of poor soil and lack of adequate water distribution in many areas. Less than one-third of the cultivated area is irrigated; the rest is devoted to dry farming. The western and northwestern portions of the country have the most fertile soils.

At the end of the 20th century, agricultural activities accounted for about one-fifth of Iran's gross domestic product (GDP) and employed a comparable proportion of the workforce. Most farms are small, less than 25 acres (10 hectares), and thus are not economically viable, which has contributed to the wide-scale migration to cities. In addition to water scarcity and areas of poor soil, seed is of low quality and farming techniques are antiquated.

All these factors have contributed to low crop yields and poverty in rural areas. Further, after the 1979 revolution many agricultural workers claimed ownership rights and forcibly occupied large, privately owned farms where they had been employed. The legal disputes that arose from this situation remained unresolved through the 1980s, and many owners put off making large capital investments that would have improved farm productivity, further deteriorating production. Progressive government efforts and incentives during the 1990s, however, improved agricultural productivity marginally, helping Iran toward its goal of reestablishing national self-sufficiency in food production.

The wide range of temperature fluctuation in different parts of the country and the multiplicity of climatic zones make it possible to cultivate a diverse variety of crops, including cereals (wheat, barley, rice, and corn maize), fruits (dates, figs, pomegranates, melons, and grapes), vegetables, cotton, sugar beets and sugarcane, pistachios, nuts, olives, spices (i.e. saffron), tea, tobacco, and medicinal herbs.

Iran is one of the largest pistachio producers in the world (38% of the world's output of 501 metric tonnes, as of 2005.)

Iran's forests cover approximately the same amount of land as its agricultural crops—about one-tenth of its total surface area. The largest and most valuable woodland areas are in the Caspian region, where many of the forests are commercially exploitable and include both hardwoods and softwoods. Forest products include plywood, fibreboard, and lumber for the construction and furniture industries.

Fishing is also important, and Iran harvests fish both for domestic consumption and for export, marketing their products fresh, salted, smoked, or canned. Sturgeon (yielding its roe for caviar), bream, whitefish, salmon, mullet, carp, catfish, perch, and roach are caught in the Caspian Sea, Iran's most important fishery. More than 200 species of fish are found in the Persian Gulf, 150 of which are edible, including shrimps and prawns.

Of the country's livestock, sheep are by far the most numerous, followed by goats, cattle, asses, horses, water buffalo, and mules. The raising of poultry for eggs and meat is prevalent, and camels are still raised and bred for use in transport.

1 History
2 Agriculture in Iran's economy
3 References
4 See also
5 External Links

[edit] History

Agriculture has a long history and tradition in Iran. As early as 10,000 BCE, the earliest known domestication of the goat had taken place in the Iranian plateau. ^[1] By 5000BCE, wine was being fermented in Iran ^[2] , and by 1700 BCE, the windmill had been invented in Persia for the first time in history. ^[3] ^[4]

Fruits such as the peach first found their way into Europe from Persia, as indicated by their Latin name, persica, from which (by way of the French) we have the English word "peach." ^[5] As did Tulips, which were also first cultivated in ancient Persia ^[6] ^[7] and spinach, the word Spinach itself derived from the Persian word اسفناج Esfenaj. The Chinese referred to it in 647CE as 'the herb of Persia'. In 400BCE, a form of ice cream was in use in Persia ^[8] ^[9], and the the ancestor of the cookie is said to have come from Persia (from the Persian koolucheh) in the 7th century according to many sources. ^[10] ^[11]

Fifth century BCE Persia was even the source for introduction of the domesticated chicken into Europe. The mid fifth century BCE poet Cratinus (according to the later Greek author "Athenaeus") for example calls the chicken "the Persian alarm". In Aristophanes's comedy The Birds (414 BC) a chicken is called "the Median bird", which points to its introduction from Persis.

The Qanat, a subterranean aqueduct used for irrigation in agriculture, was one of the most significant and successful achievements of the Persian tradition. Qanats were in use millenia ago, and are still in use in contemporary Iran.

[edit] Agriculture in Iran's economy

Iran’s agricultural sector contributed 11 percent of the GDP in 2004 and employed 23 percent (1996) of the labor force. Since 1979 commercial farming has replaced subsistence farming as the dominant mode of agricultural production. Some northern and western areas support rain-fed agriculture, while other areas require irrigation for successful crop production. Wheat, rice, and barley are the country’s major crops.

Overall, Iran's soil is not well suited for large scale agriculture. About 11 percent of the country's total land area of 163.6 million hectares is cultivated. Still, 63% of the cultivable lands have not been used, and 18.5 million hectares of the present farms are being used with 50 to 60% capacity.

After nearly achieving agricultural self-sufficiency in the 1960s, Iran reached the point in 1979 where 65 percent of its food had to be imported. Declining productivity was blamed on the use of modern fertilizers, which had inadvertently scorched the thin Iranian soil. Unresolved land reform issues, a lack of economic incentives to raise surplus crops, and low profit ratios combined to drive increasingly large segments of the farm population into urban areas.

The 1979 Revolution sought self-sufficiency in foodstuffs as part of its overall goal of decreased economic dependence on the West. Higher government subsidies for grain and other staples and expanded short- term credit and tax exemptions for farmers complying with government quotas were intended by the new regime to promote self-sufficiency. But by early 1987, Iran was actually more dependent on agricultural imports than in the 1970s.

By 1997, the gross value of products in Iran's agricultural sector had reached $25 billion. By 2003, a quarter of Iran's non-oil exports were agricultural based. Today, according to a senior Agriculture Jihad Ministry official said that Iran has attained 94 percent self-sufficiency in essential agricultural products.

Mechanized agricultural has had a slow but steady growth in Iran. Industrial facilities in Tabriz and Arak are Iran's largest producers of machinery and equipment for the agricultural sector (i.e. tractors and combine harvesters).

In 2000, the Construction Jihad Organization and the Ministry of Agriculture were merged by national legislation, to form the new Ministry of Agricultural Jihad.

While the Iranian Government policy is aimed at self-sufficiency for even more products, it’s unlikely the country will produce enough agricultural products in the short- to medium-term to meet that goal. Iran has struggled to provide enough basic food commodities to its local market demands, following a significant population increase over the past two decades. For example, annual wheat production ranges between six and 10 million tonnes, yet the government currently imports between three and four million tonnes to meet demand (partly due to consumer waste, given government subsidies for wheat and other basic commodities).

The focus areas for agriculture are:

Financing and low-interest loans for investment in agriculture and agro-industrial projects.
Ensuring self-sufficiency in the provision of national food requirements.
Budgets for agro-industrial projects in the food processing, packaging and irrigation sectors.
Provision of agricultural machinery and equipment with emphasis on local production by making transfer of technology a required clause in foreign contracts.
Allocation of government loans and financing for agro-industrial projects.

In the livestock sector, Iran has a large poultry and dairy industry and imports close to two million tonnes of feed grain annually as of 2006.