“Over 700,000 tons of milk and dairy products, as well as 50,000 tons of milk powder were exported during the same period,” Morteza Rezaei was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that plans are underway to become self-sufficient in butter production by using domestic capacity.
“Iran’s per capita milk consumption has decreased from 95 kilograms to 80 kilograms in the past two decades,” the head of Iran Dairy Industries Association's public relations, Mohammad Reza Banitaba, said.
According to Ahmad Moqaddasi, the head of Iran’s Cattle Owners Union, per capita consumption of milk and dairy products should stand at 300 kilograms and the government plans to encourage increased consumption in this area to the global average by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (March 2021).
Banitaba told ISNA that Iran exported 450,000 tons of dairy products worth $750 million in the last fiscal year that ended on March 19.
“There are more than 400 dairy production units in Iran,” he said.
Moqaddasi said close to 8 million tons of unpasteurized milk are produced in the country, 6 million of which are used in dairy industries.
According to Secretary of Iran Dairy Industries Union Reza Bakeri, Iran's dairy industry has created around 120,000 direct and more than 480,000 indirect jobs.
“More than 2 million people are employed across the dairy production chain from the raw materials and input sector to animal farms, factories and the distribution sector,” he said.
Iran’s per capita milk production currently stands at 130 kilograms per year.
Iran is one of the top milk producing countries.