Announcing the above, Abbas Zare’, the chairman of Modern Irrigation Systems Project undertaken by the Agriculture Ministry, added that plans have been made to set up advanced irrigation systems over 285,000 hectares of farms this year, adding that up until now 140,000 hectares have been equipped, Mehr News Agency reported.
This, he explained, saves up to 1.25 billion cubic meters of water, increases yield and decreases fertilizer and pesticide use by 30% each.
Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati has said that the government will cover 85% of expenses involved in the modernization of irrigation systems in farms and orchards in the form of subsidies, according to Financial Tribune.
“Unlimited banking facilities will be granted to farmers in this regard,” he said.
Iran is suffering from an acute case of water crisis.
Hojjati said the government plans to restrict cultivation of crops in areas where underground water resources have dipped to alarming levels.