Noting that production shows a 3% decline compared to the previous year, Alireza Mohajer attributed the fall to low precipitation and water shortage, Mizan Online reported.
The top colza producing provinces in Iran are Mazandaran, Khuzestan, Golestan, Ilam, Kermanshah and Ardabil.
According to the official, Iran’s annual demand for vegetable oil stands at 1.5 million tons, as per capita consumption is 19 kilograms per year while the global average is 12 kg.
“Plans are to increase land under colza cultivation and produce around 600,000 tons of this oilseed next year,” he said.
According to Mohajer, Iran imports $4 billion worth of oilseeds and unprocessed vegetable oils every year.
The Agriculture Ministry plans to achieve 70% self-sufficiency in the production of oilseeds through a 10-year program (which kicked off late 2015) to curb the import of oilseeds and vegetable oils.
The vegetable oil market in Iran has been in turmoil, as the country relies on imports for the raw materials. Nonetheless, the government has focused in recent months to meet the need for the staple foodstuff in the basket of Iranian households domestically.
The bulk of imports are palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, soybean oil from Argentina and sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia.
A total of 2.2 million tons of oilseeds were imported in the last fiscal year (March 2020-21), Mehr News Agency reported.