“A total of 2.91 million tons of sugarbeet have been produced across 74,000 hectares so far this year [started March 21]. The figure will reach 4 million tons by the [fiscal] yearend [March 19, 2020],” Peyman Hesadi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that sugarcane has been harvested across 15,000 hectares with an average output of 68.6 tons per hectare (reaching a total of 1,029 million tons).
“We expect to produce 5 million tons of sugarcane by the yearend,” Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.
Hesadi further said annual domestic demand for sugar stands at 2.2 million tons and so the deficit in domestic production has to be compensated through imports.