Tehran - The head of Food Industry Engineering and Post-Harvest Technologies at the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute says more than 30 million tons of Iran’s annual food production is lost before it reaches consumers - a major blow to national food security.

 

Abolfazl Golshan Tafti identified post-harvest waste as one of the country’s most serious agricultural challenges and stressed that improving storage, transport, packaging and processing systems is essential for achieving food-security goals.

 

He said national studies on products such as tomatoes, lettuce, grapes, peaches, apples and wheat show loss rates as high as 57% for lettuce, 18% for tomatoes, and 20% for grapes. Research on potatoes, rice, dates, citrus and pistachios is still underway.

 

According to the official, the national program focuses on measuring waste, identifying critical loss points, improving post-harvest handling, and developing simple, low-cost technologies that can extend shelf life and return by-products to the production cycle.

 

He noted that several research outcomes have already been commercialized — including mushroom production from agricultural waste, bread improvers, and solar tunnel dryers for dates — creating significant added value. "Bread improvers alone generate an estimated 1,600 billion tomans in annual economic benefits."

 

Golshan Tafti highlighted practical solutions such as developing agro-industrial complexes, expanding small rural processing units, building technical storage centers and silos, improving marketing systems, and training farmers. He emphasized that strengthening processing and complementary industries is key to reducing waste, creating jobs, curbing rural migration and boosting food security.