Shiraz – Iran is accelerating efforts to achieve sugar self-sufficiency by expanding water-efficient autumn sugar beet cultivation, adopting improved crop varieties, and enhancing production management, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said.

 

Hossein Asghari, Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Industrial Crops Office, said the ministry aims to expand autumn sugar beet cultivation to at least 60,000 hectares by the end of the country’s Seventh National Development Plan.

 

He said autumn planting has become a strategic priority due to its greater water-use efficiency, as prolonged drought and growing water shortages make spring cultivation increasingly unsustainable.

 

Asghari added that strong farmer participation in major producing provinces, including Fars, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, and Golestan, could enable the ministry to surpass its cultivation target.

 

He noted that average sugar beet yields have increased from 45 to more than 60 tons per hectare, driven by improved seed quality and advances in cultivation practices. The ministry is also introducing new drought- and salt-tolerant varieties to strengthen productivity under increasingly challenging climatic conditions.

 

The official said Iran ultimately aims to produce 1.7–1.9 million tons of sugar annually, reducing reliance on imports while safeguarding the country’s water and soil resources.