TEHRAN- As announced by a provincial official, 160 hectares of new gardens were created in Hamedan province during the past Iranian calendar year 1401 (ended on March 20).

Reza Bahramlou, the head of the province’s Agriculture Department, also announced that 913,000 tons of garden products were produced in the province during the previous year.

Hamadan is one of the important agricultural hubs of Iran. Despite having 2.1 percent of the country's area, this province accounts for producing 4.4 percent of the agricultural products in Iran.

The agricultural sector accounts for 29 percent of employment and 25 percent of the added value of the province's economic activities.

Also, the agricultural sector of Hamedan accounts for 5.4 percent of the production and 4.3 percent of the added value of the country's agricultural sector.

Some 692,000 hectares of agricultural lands in this province are cultivated with agricultural and garden crops.

According to the chairman of the Iran Fruit Union, Iran is the largest producer of garden products in the region.

Referring to the necessity of adopting a policy to increase exports, Reza Nourani said: “Given the country's high capacities, we are the first in the region in the production of agricultural and horticultural products”.

Mentioning the country’s high potential in the production of agricultural products, he stated: “Iran is a country suffering from water scarcity, and we have gone through several consecutive years of drought, however, we have the first place in the production of agricultural products in the region.”

MA