Rice Farming Mechanization Reaches 80%

EghtesadOnline: The share of mechanized rice farming has risen from 12.5% to 80% over the past four years, as the number of rice combines in Iran’s paddy fields has risen from 1,000 to 5,600 during the period.

News ID: ۷۷۶۳۹۳

21 May 2017

According to Kambiz Abbasi, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture, the incumbent government has invested a record high of 6 trillion rials (about $156 million) on mechanization of rice production, the Young Journalists Club reported. Mechanization has helped lower production costs by 60% and increase productivity.  Abbasi said pre-harvest, harvest and post-harvest stages of rice production in 250,000 hectares of paddy fields have become automated over the past four years. Iranians consume about 3.2 million tons of rice a year while domestic production stands at around 2.2 million tons, indicating a need for around 1 million tons of imports every year. The two northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran are home to a majority of Iran’s paddy fields, thanks to sufficient rainfall in the Caspian region, Financial Tribune reported.