Mohammad Masoudi
Public Relations
Iran Feed Mills Union
The report published by the FAO entitled "Product Outlook and Food Status", announced the production of 21.6 million tons of grain in Iran during the 2018-2019 harvest season and announced that Iran is ranked the ninth in the world in terms of grain storage.
With an area under cultivation of about 12 million hectares and production of 82.7 million tons of crops, Iran is the ninth country in the world in terms of grain storage according to the FAO.
In this article, while announcing the official statistics announced by the Ministry of Agriculture of Iran, we try to explain this issue a little more clearly to the readers and provide accurate statistics on the amount of Iranian products in the field of grains, legumes and fodder plants.
Iran is a country located in southwest Asia and the Middle East, with an area of about 1,648,195 square kilometers, which is the 18th largest country in the world. With a population of more than 85 million, it borders Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey. It is also directly connected to Russia and Kazakhstan via the Caspian Sea.
The report published by the FAO entitled "Product Outlook and Food Status", announced the production of 21.6 million tons of grain in Iran during the 2018-2019 harvest season and announced that Iran is ranked the ninth in the world in terms of grain storage.
Iran is a producer of many grains. According to the latest official information available in Iran until 2019, the area of crop harvest was about 12 million hectares, of which about 51.8% were irrigated lands and 48.2% were dryland lands.
According to the same statistics, about 82.7 million tons of various crops have been harvested from the total lands, of which 90.6% of the crop production belongs to irrigated lands and the remaining 9.4% belongs to dry farming.
AREA UNDER CULTIVATION
In general, the area under cultivation of all crops in Iran in 2019 was equal to 11.8 million hectares, of which 6.1 million hectares were irrigated and 5.7 million hectares were dry farming. Of the total area under cultivation of grains, legumes and fodder crops with 8.4, 0.8 and one million hectares of cultivated area, respectively, accounted for 71.2%, 7.1% and 8.8%.
PRODUCTION RATE
82.7 million tons of Iran's total harvest was from lands, of which 74.9 million tons were harvested in irrigated cultivation and 7.7 million tons in dryland cultivation. Among them, grain, legumes and fodder crops with 22.7, 0.7 and 21.6 million tons of production, respectively, accounted for 27.5%, 0.8% and 26.2% of Iran's total production.
Figure 1 – Iran’s cultivated area rates by product
IRRIGATED CROP WITH THE HIGHEST PRODUCTION
The highest amount of irrigated production among crops is related to fodder corn with a production of about 11.6 million tons and a share of 15.5% of the total crop production.
Figure 2- Production amount of the crops in Iran
In the second place is irrigated wheat with a production of about 8.2 million tons and a share of 10.9% of the total production and blue alfalfa with a production of about 6 million tons and a share of 8.1% of the total production is in the fourth place in Iran. They have a place.
RAINFED CROP WITH THE HIGHEST PRODUCTION
The highest amount of rainfed production among crops is related to wheat with a production of about 5.5 million tons and a share of 71.5% of the total production of rainfed crops, followed by barley with a production of about 1.2 million tons and a share of 15 1% of the total production and clover with a production of about 0.3 million tons and a share of 3.6% are in third place.
The fourth rank is related to chickpeas with a production of about 0.27 million tons and a share of 3.5% and alfalfa with a production of about 0.1 million tons and a share of 1.9% of the total production is in the fifth place.
PRODUCTION IN 2019
According to the latest information from the Ministry of Jihad for Agriculture of Iran, the production of high-yielding grains in Iran, which are wheat, barley, paddy and corn, respectively, may be 13.7, 3.5, 4.4 and 1.1 million tons, respectively.
Figure 3 – Cultivated area rate for irrigated and rainfed agriculture
In the same year, alfalfa, clover, fodder corn with production of 6.1, 0.5 and 11.6 million can be more than fodder crops that have a high share of production in Iranian products.
It may be predicted that Iran's grain production in 2016 to 228 will be done with an annual growth of 2.24. This growth is mainly affected by wheat production, which normally expects to account for an average of about 70% of total production. If you predict, wheat production will grow by 2.7% annually during this period and will reach 15.4 million tons in 2028. Production of other coarse grains also grew by 1.7 percent annually and reached 3.6 million tons in 2028, according to forecasts.
Iran's rice production in 2016 was about 1.9 million tons and is expected to reach 2.3 million tons with an average annual growth of 1.6 percent in 2028. Iran's corn production forecast is expected to reach 1.08 million tons in 2028 with an average annual growth of 1.6 percent from 897 thousand tons in 2016.
CONSUMPTION
It is expected that during the years 2016 to 2028, the country's grain consumption will grow annually by 3.4% be accompanied. During this period, expecting food consumption in Iran will not experience a significant change, but the forecast of the use of corn and other coarse grains in the country during this period will be accompanied by annual growth of 2.4% and 5.4%, respectively. According to expectations, rice consumption will also experience an annual growth of 12.12% during this period.
Forecast in 2028, more than 46 grain in Iran are allocated to corn, 31% to other coarse grains, 15% to rice, more than 8% to wheat.
BUSINESS
According to forecasts, Iran's grain imports are expected to grow by 3.5% annually in 2016 to 208. However, the forecast should be accompanied by a negative average annual growth of negative 0.5% and 6.5% during the review period of rice and wheat imports. But corn and other coarse grains will experience annual growth of 3.9 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively.
According to 2018 estimates, Iran has imported about 5.8 million tons of corn, which it expects to import in 2028 to reach 3.1 million tons. Imports of wheat and rice in 2018 have been purchased equivalent to 2,000 thousand tons and 1.25 million tons, respectively, which is expected to reach 656 thousand tons in 2028 and about 14.4 million tons. According to forecasts, in 2028, about 63% of the country's grain imports will be related to corn, 25 cases will be related to other coarse grains, 5.85 will be related to rice and 4 cases will be related to wheat.
Grain exports are also expected to grow at an annual rate of 1% during this period. The main grain of the country is wheat, and the other secret share will be almost zero. According to forecasts, in 2028, 96.8 percent of Iran's grain exports will be related to wheat and 3.2 percent to rice. Exports of other products are so small that their share of the country's total grain exports is close to zero.
In 2018, Iran's wheat exports are equivalent to 100,000 tons and are expected to reach more than 30,000 tons by 2028. At the same time, Iran's rice exports in 2018 were equivalent to one thousand tons, respectively, which according to forecasts in 2028 will be realized to 92. Iran's corn exports have also been very low.
From 2016 to 2018, wheat yields are expected to grow by 2.7 percent each year, particles by 14.4 percent, rice by 1.5 percent and other coarse grains by 1.6 percent. Iranian corn yield in 2018 is equal to 4.2 tons per hectare, which is expected to reach 5 tons per hectare in 2028. Iran's wheat and rice yields in 2018 are equivalent to 2.22 tons per hectare and 2.32 tons per hectare, respectively, and according to forecasts in 2028 will be 2.5 tons per hectare and 8.3 tons per hectare.