TEHRAN- The deputy head of the Agriculture Department of Sistan-Baluchestan Province, in the southeast of Iran, announced that 25 hectares of new greenhouses have been created in the province since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

Amanollah Towqi said that the greenhouse area has now reached 262 hectares in the province.

The official further announced that over 40,000 tons of products are annually produced in the greenhouses of the province, and sent to the domestic and foreign markets.

Since the beginning of this year, 240 tons of tomatoes, produced in the greenhouses of Sistan-Baluchestan, have been exported to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he added.

While the agriculture sector plays a significant role in the promotion of the Iranian economy, drought in recent years has prevented this sector from being developed as expected.

To tackle this condition, the Agriculture Ministry has taken some measures and defined some programs, such as the improvement of irrigation systems.

One of the major programs that the ministry has defined and is seriously pursuing is the development of greenhouses throughout the country.

In late April, the managing director of Iran’s Agricultural Parks Company (APC) said that this company planned to create 1,000 hectares of new greenhouses in the country’s agricultural parks during the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021).

According to Ali-Ashraf Mansouri, the development of the country’s agricultural parks not only is going to create new job opportunities but also increases the country’s non-oil exports and helps preserve the environment and the national water and soil resources.

Iran has paid 8.3 trillion rials (about $197.6 million) of facilities for the development of agricultural parks across the country during the past Iranian year.

The mentioned facilities were paid for the development or construction of various agricultural parks including greenhouses, and those for aquaculture, as well as livestock and poultry breeding.

Offering such facilities and also the other supportive measures have led to the creation of more greenhouses and well as the development of the existing ones in the country.

MA/MA