Iran, FAO to jointly work on development of model farms, NFS

Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture and the UN's Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) have plans underway to proceed ahead with a
joint project to develop model farms as well as Novel Farming Systems (NFS), an
official said.

Esmail Zadhassan, an official with Iran’s Dryland
Agriculture Research Institute, said the plan is aimed at increasing the
country’s dryland output through boosting efficiency and capacity.

He added that novel and innovative techniques and methods
will be employed in the project which will be implemented in the provinces of
Hamedan, East Azarbaijan, Ardabil and Kurdistan. 

Training workshops for farmers and experts will be held as
part of the project so that they can get further familiar with novel farming
systems, Zadhassan said. 

The official said the first training workshop is set to be
held on April 29 in the city of Maragheh, northwestern East Azarbaijan
province.

Novel farming systems are new methods of farming living
ingredients, many of which are traditionally grown outdoors. Consumers are
scrutinizing the agrifood industry more than ever for its widespread use of
natural resources such as water and arable land, and for its negative impact on
the environment.

The agrifood sector is neck and neck with heating and
cooling as the global industry producing the most greenhouse gases. Industrial
farming can also have a damaging environmental impact with the application of
chemicals and fertilizers contributing to soil degradation, drinking water
contamination, and run off harming local ecosystems.