Iran’s annual horticultural output tops 25m tons

Iran’s horticultural output has reached over 25 million tons
in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20), Mohammad-Mehdi
Boroumand, the deputy agriculture minister for horticulture affairs said.

“In current [Iranian] year, about 25,700,000 tons of
horticulture products were produced, 50 percent of which accounted for the
country’s total exports,” Boroumand said on Thursday while inaugurating the
first Specialized Exhibition of Iran’s Fruit and Vegetable Industry (Fruit
Show) in Tehran.

Iran Fruit Show kicked off on Thursday in the Iranian
capital and will go on until Sunday (Feb. 26).

He added that the country’s horticultural output has seen a
major rise compared to the same period last year despite drought and cold
snaps.

Recently, the deputy minister emphasized the necessity of
developing greenhouse cultivation in the country and said now the area of
greenhouses had increased to 25,000 hectares and by using the capacities of the
private sector and the government, efforts were being made to make policies in
this area towards the creation of large-scale greenhouses.

In greenhouse cultivation, due to the closed environment,
water loss through various evaporation ways is greatly reduced. Also, through
mechanized irrigation methods such as irrigation canvas and irrigation tape,
water consumption is minimized and due to accurate monitoring and control of
pests and diseases, especially the use of biological control methods and a
sharp reduction in the use of chemical pesticides, we will see an increase in
product quality, that will lead to the popularity of the product in the market
and increase export capability.