Greenhouse cultivation in Iran up 38%

The area under greenhouse cultivation in Iran presently spans 12,157 hectares, which is 38% more compared to the period before August 2013 when President Hassan Rouhani took office.

This is according to the executive of Greenhouse Expansion Project undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Valiollah Bani-Ameri added that the ministry plans to increase the country’s greenhouse area to more than 48,000 hectares by the end of the 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25), IRNA reported.

The official noted that the ministry expects to produce 21 million tons of agro products in greenhouses per year when the project is completed, Mehr News Agency reported.

According to Bani-Ameri, Iran ranks second globally in the expansion of greenhouse area after Mexico.

Ali Ashraf Mansouri, the head of Tehran’s Agricultural Jihad Organization, said the area under greenhouse cultivation in the province amounts to more than 3,150 hectares, accounting for more than a quarter of all greenhouses in the country.

“Iran produces 1.55 billion cut flowers per year with Tehran Province accounting for 850 million, or 57% of the total sum. The global production of cut flowers stands at more than 10.02 billion annually,” he said.