Mazandaran - Iran’s northern Mazandaran province has implemented a rice demonstration and extension program across 1,700 hectares, generating an estimated 2.4 trillion rials in gross income for local farmers, the provincial agriculture chief said.

 

Asadollah Teymouri-Yansari, head of the Mazandaran Agricultural Organization, said the program covered 54 demonstration farms, including 1,560 hectares of contiguous farmland and 140 hectares of reference farms.

 

“The initiative directly involved 54 lead farmers and transferred technical knowledge to 1,034 neighboring farmers, with each demonstration farm providing field-based training to about 20 surrounding farms.”

 

The program also helped save more than 3 million cubic meters of water through alternate wetting and drying irrigation, equivalent to about 2,000 cubic meters per hectare, he said.

 

The official said that the initiative also cut urea fertilizer use by more than 127.5 metric tons, helping reduce production costs and protect soil resources.

 

Teymouri-Yansari said the results highlight the effectiveness of farm-based agricultural extension in improving resource efficiency, boosting production and strengthening the livelihoods of rice farmers in a province that is central to Iran’s food security.