TEHRAN - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has inaugurated new drainage systems in 20,000 hectares of more lands in northern Iran as his administration moves ahead with restoration and revival schemes for farms across the country.
The rollout of drainage systems on Thursday came during a virtual conference call by Rouhani from his office in Tehran where he ordered the launch of over 75 trillion rials (over $312 million) in agricultural projects in four Iranian provinces.
Rouhani hailed his administration’s records in the agriculture sector, saying drainage systems built across Iran over the past eight years had helped revive some 600,000 hectares of lands.
“We hope we could finish drainage works in 30,000 hectares of more lands until the end of the Administration’s time,” said the president as he plans to leave office in mid-August at the end of his two four-year terms.
A report on the website of the Iranian Presidency said farming and food projects opened on Thursday would create nearly 16,000 permanent jobs in the country.
The projects included those rolled out by Iran’s fishery authority to increase sea food output in southern Iran, as well as the launch of 1,217 hectares of greenhouses in northern and western provinces.
Rouhani said the area dedicated to greenhouse farming in Iran had nearly tripled to 23,000 hectares during his time in office.
He also defended his government’s records in fishery activity, saying output in the sector had increased by 38% compared to 2013 to 1.222 million metric tons for the year to March this year.
Iran’s agriculture sector has seen annual growth rates of above 5% since the government introduced measures in 2018 to support more exports from the sector.
The measures have been meant to create more jobs and to diversify the Iranian economy away from crude revenues.