Tahmasebi said today that last local calendar year (March 21, 2018-March 20, 2019), the export of about 140,000 tons of kiwi, generated over $97 million forex revenues for the country.

He noted that Iran is ranked four in the world with a cultivated area of ​12,400 hectares and a production of over 362,000 tons of kiwi.

Operators and organizations need to form a production-to-market chain, use a conventional farming system and create a specialized fund, in order to maintain the optimal production and meet domestic demand, as well as plan to maintain kiwi export markets, he stated.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture went on to say that with the pursuit of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, kiwi exporters can benefit from banking facilities at the rate of 14.5 percent of the Keshavarzi Bank.

Iran has expedited efforts to reduce dependency on food imports over the past years amid rounds of American sanctions that could have had an impact on food security in the country.

The agriculture sector has experienced a significant growth as official reports suggest there is sufficient production to meet domestic demand while authorities are seeking to find new markets for farming products that are on oversupply.

Late in August, Head of Mechanization Department at Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture Kambiz Abbasi said that output in the farming sector had significantly improved over the past years mainly due to the modernization of the equipment used in the sector.

Abbasi described as “unprecedented” the size of the investment dedicated to mechanized agriculture since 2013 when the current administrative government took office for the first time.

He said a main part of the investment had gone to modern seed drills and harvesting machines, leading to lower wastage in the farms.

The official added that use of agricultural drones, used for spraying pesticides and fertilizers and monitoring the crops, had picked up significantly in farms across Iran.

Abbasi said the accelerated wave of mechanization in Iran’s farming sector had come despite US sanctions that had restricted the country’s access to modern agriculture machinery.

He said banks across Iran had granted over $500 million in loans for purchase of agriculture machinery over the past six years, adding that farmers were becoming increasingly interested in mechanized processes to increase productivity in their farms.

Iran has reported increased output in main fields of agriculture despite sanctions imposed by the United States which some believed could threaten food security in the country.

The government has reported a significant surge in exports of farming products as sanctions that began in November caused the national currency rial to devaluate, helping farmers to find new markets for their products across the borders.

Washington’s unilateral sanctions against Tehran began in November 2018, five months after US President Donald Trump withdrew from an international deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

Claiming that the bans were working properly, Trump tightened them in May, only to see that Iran was finding new solutions to recoup the losses.

Since early in July, Iran’s national currency rial has regained some of its lost value, currently trading at 116,000 against the US dollar, and significantly up from historic lows of 190,000 in September 2018.

Inflation for staples, medicine, and basic goods declined in August, according to the SCI’s Saturday statement, with 56.6 and 35.2 percent for food and non-food items, respectively.

In August, Iranian First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri underscored that the measures and plots hatched by Washington to lead Iran’s economy into collapse have all failed.

“We have been able to defeat the US plots with the strategy of resistance,” Jahangiri said, addressing a ceremony in the Northern city of Noshahr.