Gov’t Buys 80% More Colza From Farmers

EghtesadOnline: More than 225,000 tons of colza worth around 7.5 trillion rials (close to $178.6 million) have been purchased by the government from farmers across the country so far this year, registering an 80% surge compared with the corresponding period of last year, the director of “National Oilseed Project” carried out by Agriculture Ministry said.

News ID: ۷۸۲۹۸۲

20 June 2018

“It is estimated that purchases will reach 300,000 tons by the end of the [fiscal] year [March 2019]. Oil extracted from this amount will meet about 9% of our domestic demand. Other oilseeds will meet an additional 7% of the demand for vegetable oils,” Alireza Mohajer was also quoted as saying by Young Journalists Club on Monday.

Of all the vegetable oils consumed in Iran, 95% are extracted from soybean, sunflowers and palm. The Agriculture Ministry plans to achieve 70% self-sufficiency in oilseed production within the next 10 years to curb the import of oilseeds and vegetable oil.

Per capita vegetable oil consumption in Iran is about 18-19 kilograms a year while the global average is 12 kilograms, Financial Tribune reported.