Agriculture in Iran - Citizendia

Map of Iran's major crops, circa 1978. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics.

Roughly one-third of Iran's total surface area is suited for farmland, but because of poor soil and lack of adequate water distribution in many areas, most of it is not under cultivation. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Only 12% of the total land area is under cultivation (arable land, orchards and vineyards) but less than one-third of the cultivated area is irrigated; the rest is devoted to dry farming. Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture The western and northwestern portions of the country have the most fertile soils.

One third of the total land area (35%) is used for grazing and small fodder production. Most of the grazing is done on mostly semi-dry rangeland in mountain areas and on areas surrounding the large deserts ("Dasht's") of Central Iran.

The non-agricultural surface represents 53% of the total area of Iran, as follows:

Abb. 35% of the country is covered by deserts, salt flats ("kavirs") and bare-rock mountains, not suited for agricultural purposes.
An additional 11% of Iran's total surface is covered by woodlands.
And 7% is covered by cities, towns, villages, industrial areas and roads.

At the end of the 20th century, agricultural activities accounted for about one-fifth of Iran's gross domestic product (GDP) and employed a comparable proportion of the workforce. Workforce (Voyager episode The workforce is the labour pool in Employment. Most farms are small, less than 25 acres (10 hectares), and thus are not economically viable, which has contributed to the wide-scale migration to cities. A farm is an area of land including various structures devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food ( Produce, Grains, or Livestock In addition to water scarcity and areas of poor soil, seed is of low quality and farming techniques are antiquated. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. Soil, often typeset as SOiL, is a four piece rock band from Chicago Illinois United States founded by Shaun Glass Tom Schofield Tim King and Adam Zadel

All these factors have contributed to low crop yields and poverty in rural areas. Further, after the 1979 revolution many agricultural workers claimed ownership rights and forcibly occupied large, privately owned farms where they had been employed. The legal disputes that arose from this situation remained unresolved through the 1980s, and many owners put off making large capital investments that would have improved farm productivity, further deteriorating production. Productivity in Economics refers to measures of output from production processes per unit of input Progressive government efforts and incentives during the 1990s, however, improved agricultural productivity marginally, helping Iran toward its goal of reestablishing national self-sufficiency in food production.

A Lahijan tea farm during harvest time, northern Iran.

1 Crops & Plants
2 Forestry
3 Fishing
4 Livestock
5 History
6 Agriculture in Iran's economy
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

Crops & Plants

The wide range of temperature fluctuation in different parts of the country and the multiplicity of climatic zones make it possible to cultivate a diverse variety of crops, including cereals (wheat, barley, rice, and maize (corn)), fruits (dates, figs, pomegranates,melons, and grapes), vegetables, cotton, sugar beets and sugarcane, pistachios (World's largest producer with 40% of the world's output in 2005^[1]), nuts, olives, spices eg. Temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold something that is hotter generally has the greater temperature Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica Ficus is a Genus of about 850 Species of woody Trees Shrubs Vines Epiphytes and hemi-epiphytes in the family The pomegranate ( Punica granatum) is a Fruit -bearing Deciduous Shrub or small Tree growing to between five and eight metres tall Melon is a term used for various members of the Cucurbitaceae family with fleshy fruit For the Tokyo University supercomputer see Gravity Pipe. GRAPE, or GRA phics P rogramming E nvironment is The term " vegetable " generally means the edible parts of Plants The definition of the word is traditional rather than Scientific, however Cotton is a soft staple Fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant ( Gossypium sp Sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris L a member of the Chenopodiaceae family is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of Sucrose. Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae The pistachio ( Pistacia vera L Anacardiaceae or sometimes Pistaciaceae) is a small Tree native to mountainous regions of The Olive is the Fruit of the Olive tree (Olea europaea and is a major component of the Agriculture and Gastronomy of many countries A spice is a dried Seed, Fruit, Root, Bark or vegetative substance used in Nutritionally insignificant quantities as a Food additive saffron (World's largest producer with 81% of the world's total output)^[2], tea, tobacco, and medicinal herbs^[3]. Saffron ( Kurdish/Persian زَعْفَرَان is a Spice derived from the dried Stigma of the Flower of the saffron crocus ( Crocus sativus Tea refers to the cured agricultural product of the leaves leaf buds and internodes of Camellia sinensis, which have been prepared and cured for the market Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. See also Herbalism Medicinal plants of the American West List of culinary herbs and spices More than 2,000 plant species are grown in Iran; only 100 of which are being used in pharmaceutical industries. Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. The land covered by Iran’s natural flora is four times that of the Europe’s. In Botany, flora ( Plural: floras or florae has two meanings The first meaning flora of an area or of time period, refers to all ^[4]

Forestry

Iran's forests cover approximately the same amount of land as its agricultural crops—about one-ninth of its total surface area. A forest is an area with a high density of Trees There are many definitions of a forest based on various criteria The largest and most valuable woodland areas are in the Caspian region and the northern slopes of the Elburz Mts. Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering ( CASPIAN) is a USA Grass-roots Consumer group dedicated to fighting Supermarket "loyalty" , where many of the forests are commercially exploitable and include both hardwoods and softwoods. Forest products include plywood, fiberboard, and lumber for the construction and furniture industries. Plywood is a type of Engineered board made from thin sheets of Wood, called plies or veneers Fiberboard is a type of Engineered wood product that is made out of Wood fibers Types of fiberboard (in order of increasing density include Particle board Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or In the fields of Architecture and Civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the Building or assembling of Infrastructure Furniture is the Mass noun for the movable objects which may support the human body (seating furniture and beds, provide storage or hold objects on horizontal The cutting of trees is rigidly controlled by the government, which also has a reforestation program. Reforestation is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted with native tree stock

Fishing

Fishing is also important, and Iran harvests fish both for domestic consumption and for export, marketing their products fresh, salted, smoked, or canned. For the computer security term see Phishing. Fishing is the activity of catching Fish. Sturgeon (yielding its roe for caviar), bream, whitefish, salmon, mullet, carp, catfish, perch, and roach are caught in the Caspian Sea, Iran's most important fishery. Caviar is the processed, Salted Roe of certain species of Fish, most notably the Sturgeon ( black caviar) and the Bream is a general term for a number of species of Freshwater and marine Fish, mainly but not exhaustively drawn from the genera Salmon is the common name for several species of Fish of the family Salmonidae. Carp is a common name for various Freshwater Fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large Catfish ( order Siluriformes) are a very diverse group of bony Fish. Perca is the genus of fish referred to as perch or sometimes yellow perch, a group of freshwater Fish belonging to the family Percidae The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged Sea. More than 200 species of fish are found in the Persian Gulf, 150 of which are edible, including shrimps and prawns. The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region is an extension of the True shrimp are swimming decapod Crustaceans classified in the Infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh Prawns are Crustaceans belonging to the sub-order Dendrobranchiata

Livestock

Of the country's livestock, sheep are by far the most numerous, followed by goats, cattle, donkeys, horses, water buffalo, and mules. Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family The donkey or ass, Equus asinus, is a member of the Equidae or horse family and an odd-toed ungulate. The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. In its common modern meaning a mule is the offspring of a male Donkey and a female Horse, which is classified as a kind of F1 hybrid. The raising of poultry for eggs and meat is prevalent, and camels are still raised and bred for use in transport. Poultry is the category of Domesticated Birds which some humans keep for the purpose of collecting their eggs, or kill for their Meat and/or Camels are Even-toed ungulates within the Genus Camelus. The Dromedary, one-humped or Arabian camel has a single hump and the Iran has also a large dairy industry and imported close to two million tonnes of feed grain annually in 2006. A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal Milk &mdashmostly from goats or cows, but also from buffalo, Sheep The raising of swine is forbidden in Iran due to Islamic law. Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law. ^[5]

History

Agriculture has a long history and tradition in Iran. As early as 10,000 BCE, the earliest known domestication of the goat had taken place in the Iranian plateau. The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe ^[6] By 5000BCE, wine was being fermented in Iran ^[7] , and by 1700 BCE, the windmill had been invented in Persia for the first time in history. A windmill is a machine that is powered by the energy of the wind ^[8] ^[9]

Fruits such as the peach first found their way into Europe from Persia, as indicated by their Latin name, persica, from which (by way of the French) we have the English word "peach. The peach ( Prunus persica) is a species of Prunus native to China that bears an edible juicy fruit also called a peach The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia " ^[10] As did Tulips, which were also first cultivated in ancient Persia ^[11] ^[12] and spinach, the word Spinach itself derived from the Persian word اسفناج Esfenaj. Tulipa, commonly called tulip, is a Genus of about 150 species of bulbous Flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. Spinach ( Spinacia oleracea) is a Flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. The Chinese referred to it in 647CE as 'the herb of Persia'. In 400BCE, a form of ice cream was in use in Persia ^[13] ^[14], and the ancestor of the cookie is said to have come from Persia (from the Persian koolucheh) in the 7th century according to many sources. Ice cream or ice-cream (originally iced cream) is a frozen dessert made from Dairy products such as Milk and Cream, combined In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small flat-baked treat usually round containing milk flour eggs and sugar etc ^[15] ^[16]

Fifth century BCE Persia was even the source for introduction of the domesticated chicken into Europe. The chicken ( Gallus gallus, sometimes G gallus domesticus) is a domesticated Fowl which is traditionally believed to have descended from The mid fifth century BCE poet Cratinus (according to the later Greek author "Athenaeus") for example calls the chicken "the Persian alarm". In Aristophanes's comedy The Birds (414 BC) a chicken is called "the Median bird", which points to its introduction from Persis.

The Qanat, a subterranean aqueduct used for irrigation in agriculture, was one of the most significant and successful achievements of the Persian tradition. A qanat (from قناة) or kareez (from كاريز) is a Water management system used to provide a reliable supply of water to human settlements Qanats were in use millennia ago, and are still in use in contemporary Iran. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics.

Agriculture in Iran's economy

Keshavarzi Building, Tehran. Tehran (or Teheran) ( Persian: تهران Tehrān) is the capital and largest City of Iran, and the administrative center of

Iran’s agricultural sector contributed 11 percent of the GDP in 2004 and employed a third of the labor force. Since 1979 commercial farming has replaced subsistence farming as the dominant mode of agricultural production. Some northern and western areas support rain-fed agriculture, while other areas require irrigation for successful crop production. Wheat, rice, and barley are the country’s major crops. Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for

Overall, Iran's soil is not well suited for large scale agriculture. About 11 percent of the country's total land area of 1,636,000 km² is cultivated. Still, 63% of the cultivable lands have not been used, and 185,000 km² of the present farms are being used with 50 to 60% capacity.

After nearly achieving agricultural self-sufficiency in the 1960s, Iran reached the point in 1979 where 65 percent of its food had to be imported. Declining productivity was blamed on the use of modern fertilizers, which had inadvertently scorched the thin Iranian soil. Fertilizers ( also spelt fertiliser are chemical compounds given to Plants to promote growth they are usually applied either through the soil for uptake by plant Unresolved land reform issues, a lack of economic incentives to raise surplus crops, and low profit ratios combined to drive increasingly large segments of the farm population into urban areas. Land reforms (also Agrarian reform, though that can have a broader meaning is an often- controversial alteration in the societal arrangements whereby government

The 1979 Revolution sought self-sufficiency in foodstuffs as part of its overall goal of decreased economic dependence on the West. The Iranian Revolution' (mostly known as the Islamic Revolution, Persian: انقلاب اسلامی Enghelābe Eslāmi was the Revolution that transformed Higher government subsidies for grain and other staples and expanded short- term credit and tax exemptions for farmers complying with government quotas were intended by the new regime to promote self-sufficiency. But by early 1987, Iran was actually more dependent on agricultural imports than in the 1970s.

By 1997, the gross value of products in Iran's agricultural sector had reached $25 billion. In 2000, the Construction Jihad Organization and the Ministry of Agriculture were merged by national legislation, to form the new Ministry of Agricultural Jihad. By 2003, a quarter of Iran's non-oil exports were agricultural based. In 2004 an agricultural bourse started trading agricultural and related products in the courntry. A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a Corporation or Mutual organization which provides "trading" facilities for Stock ^[17] Today, Iran has attained 94 percent self-sufficiency in essential agricultural products.

Mechanized agricultural has had a slow but steady growth in Iran. Industrial facilities in Tabriz and Arak are Iran's largest producers of machinery and equipment for the agricultural sector. Tabriz ( تبریز, تبریز) is the largest city in northwestern Iran. Arak, (in Persian: اراک previously known as Soltan-abad, is the center of Markazi province, A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity 12,000 combine harvesters and 300,000 tractors are currently used in the sector (2007). Iran Combine Manufacturing Company is an Iranian Combine harvester manufacturer ^[18]

While the Iranian Government policy is aimed at self-sufficiency for even more products, it’s unlikely the country will produce enough agricultural products in the short- to medium-term to meet that goal. Self-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid support or interaction for survival it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy. Iran has struggled to provide enough basic food commodities to its local market demands, following a significant population increase over the past two decades. In 2007 Iran exported close to 600,000 tones of wheat (production 15 million tonnes). Another important agricultural export item is pistachio of which Iran exported more than 140,000 tons for $823 million in 2005. The pistachio ( Pistacia vera L Anacardiaceae or sometimes Pistaciaceae) is a small Tree native to mountainous regions of Iran ranks the world's largest pistachio producer and exporter followed by USA and Turkey^[19]. The pistachio ( Pistacia vera L Anacardiaceae or sometimes Pistaciaceae) is a small Tree native to mountainous regions of The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches

The focus areas for agriculture are:

Financing and low-interest loans for investment in agriculture and agro-industrial projects.
Ensuring self-sufficiency in the provision of national food requirements.
Budgets for agro-industrial projects in the food processing, packaging and irrigation sectors. Packaging is the science art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution storage sale and use Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops
Provision of agricultural machinery and equipment with emphasis on local production by making transfer of technology a required clause in foreign contracts.
Allocation of government loans and financing for agro-industrial projects. The field of finance refers to the concepts of Time, Money and Risk and how they are interrelated

References

External links

Iran is situated in Southwest Asia, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Iran’s mining industry is under-developed The most important mines include coal metallic minerals sand and gravel chemical minerals salt etc The economy of Iran is a Transition economy where a continuing strong labour force growth unmatched by commensurate real economic growth is driving up Unemployment Environmental issues in Iran includeballs in urban areas Vehicle emissions Refinery operations and industrial effluents which Dam construction started in Iran in the 1950s Some fourteen large dams were built with the help of foreign engineers and advisors during two decades preceding the Islamic Revolution Foreign Direct Investment in Iran has been hindered by unfavorable or complex operating requirements and by international sanctions, although in the early 2000s the Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language Encyclopedia about the history culture and

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