Contract farming continues to grow across Iran

The Iranian agriculture minister said contract farming
across the country has expanded to cover over 960,000 metric tons.

A total of over 960,000 metric tons of crops were produced
this year through the ministry’s contract farming program, Javad Sadatinejad
said on Sunday.

He added the Iranian ministry aims to increase this capacity
in the near future by signing more preharvest agreements with farmers.

“In the past ten months, the issuance of farming contracts
has seen a rise of 700 percent,” Sadatinejad said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the minister expressed hope that
Iran would be able to achieve food sovereignty in the region, Southwestern Asia
in particular, and that it can become self-sufficient in wheat production. 

The top official further pointed to the role of food in
diplomacy and said, “Today, major world powers look at food as a means of power
and domination”.

Helping other countries with food means guaranteeing your
own security, he added. 

For years, Iran has covered wheat and several other crops in
its guaranteed purchase price scheme. However, purchases have declined in
recent years because of price issues causing some farmers to switch to other
crops or to sell their produce to the middlemen.

However, the new administrative government that took office
in August has vowed it would expand contract farming to major crops to prevent
price fluctuations in the market that are caused by lack of balance in supply
and demand.

Experts believe the new policy could encourage more growth
in the Iranian agriculture sector where output has increased to nearly 130
million tons per year from just above 90 million tons less than a decade ago.