Tehran - Iran plans to expand sustainable rain-fed farming to 5 million hectares across 25 provinces over the next five years to strengthen food security and conserve water, a senior agriculture official said.

 

Majid Anjafi, deputy agriculture minister for crop production, said the initiative builds on five years of experience under the country’s Rain-Fed Farming Production Leap Plan, with greater crop diversification to include legumes, forage crops, medicinal plants and oilseeds alongside cereals.

 

Iran produced 4.3 million tons of wheat and 1.2 million tons of other crops, including 500,000 tons of forage, on rain-fed land last year. Producing the same volume of forage on irrigated fields would have required an estimated 600 million cubic meters of water, he said.

 

“The new five-year program will promote “green fallow” practices, replacing bare fields with suitable rotational crops to reduce soil erosion and improve soil fertility.”

 

The ministry also plans to expand contract farming for oilseeds, providing farmers with seeds, fertilizers, technical support and financing in cooperation with processing industries, the deputy minister said.

 

Iran aims to increase the share of wheat produced on rain-fed land from around 50% to 60% and raise rain-fed oilseed output from 350,000 to 600,000 tons. The latter target depends on sustained funding and the provision of necessary resources, Anjafi said.