Iran to expand areas under medicinal herbs cultivation

 

The areas under medicinal plants’ cultivation in the country is targeted to expand by 63,000 hectares for the current farming year (September-August) to boost both exports and people’s health, according to an official in the Ministry of Agriculture.

"The Ministry of Agriculture has been working for years to take effective measures to ensure the health of the people and supply raw materials for processing, pharmaceutical and food industries,” Hossein Zeinali, the director for the ministry’s plan of medical herbs, further said.

He added, "To develop processing and food industries this year, medicinal plant terminals will be established. Some of the terminals have already been launched.”

The official said, "In the field of processing medicinal plants, we intend to establish medicinal plants federations that are responsible for pricing in the domestic and international arena. These organizations, in cooperation with the private sector and especially associations, will be responsible for negotiating with foreign applicants for Iranian medicinal plants, and their decisions are binding for the whole country."

Iran is among the leading countries in the field of medicine and health technology, supplying 98 percent of pharmaceutical items to the domestic market.