4. The government’s self-sufficiency program in basic goods/wheat reserves of the country increased by 40%

According to the economic reporter of Fars News Agency, the 25% growth in wheat production and 40% in wheat reserves in the country shows that the government has taken steps to reduce self-reliance at least in this very important and strategic product, and it can be done as promised by the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture. It was more promising for wheat self-sufficiency in the next year, of course, self-sufficiency programs are not limited to this product and other products are also in the ministry’s serious plan.

The government has a program of self-sufficiency and self-reliance in other basic products and has designed a vision to achieve it, including self-sufficiency and increasing self-reliance in the important products of wheat, rice, oilseeds, cotton and other products.

Self-sufficiency in basic products is one of the upstream programs and the sixth development plan, the government intends to reduce the area under cultivation of summer and water crops, which play a lesser role in providing the country’s food security, and to increase the area of ​​cultivation of functional crops. The food security factor will also increase.

The Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, as the main custodian of agricultural production, has programs in this field, which are mentioned below.

* Contract farming at the level of 4.2 million hectares

The Ministry of Agricultural Jihad implements contract farming at the level of 4.2 million hectares and has concluded a contract with the Imam’s (RA) Command Implementation Headquarters. In the contract farming model, farmers’ needs such as inputs and liquidity are provided by the private or government sector Cultivation and harvesting are provided with the necessary support. At the end, the farmer sells his product at the set price.

The advantage of the work is that the farmer does not feel a shortage in the production stages and the production increases, for example, for every one kilogram of chemical fertilizer consumption, the production of 9 units is added. On the other hand, the farmer is sure that his product is guaranteed to be sold and does not have to worry about it.

* Applying duties on the export of summer and water products

The Ministry of Agricultural Jihad has set export duties for the export of summer products such as tomatoes, eggplants and onions with the aim that their exports will decrease and the farmer will be forced to turn to the production of other products such as wheat and other basic products.
In addition, for the cultivation of basic crops such as oilseeds, incentives have been considered, such as the guaranteed purchase rate has been raised, or a separate subsidy has been considered for the cultivation of these crops per hectare.

* Use of dry farming capacities

Dry farming in the country is more due to the lack of running water, there are more than 10 million hectares of dry land in the country, and less than a quarter of the irrigated lands are not productive. increase these areas and focus on fodder products in these areas, considering the 75% dependence on the import of livestock and poultry feed and the role that this input has in the production of protein products in the country, this work will open a new window to the country’s food production will open

* Use of regenerative agriculture

The Ministry of Agricultural Jihad believes that we should switch to a new model of agriculture, and that is regenerative agriculture, which means that the organic materials that we remove from the soil through cultivation should be returned to the soil.

These were the words that Kambiz Bazargan, the head of the Soil Science Association, said on December 13 at the World Soil Day conference in the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad.
Bazargan said: Countries have gone through sustainable agriculture for many years and now they have reached a new model of agriculture. In this method, they should add whatever crops they pull out of the ground in the form of fertilizers and other substances to the ground.

According to this official, 95% of the food produced in the country and the world is directly and indirectly related to the soil, and the more we maintain the quality of our soil, the more the production will increase.

In addition to the self-sufficiency programs that it follows in different ways, the government also follows the storage of basic products, this is the method that the Chinese also follow, they have stored half of the world’s export wheat in their warehouses, and such a method in The country will also go down.

Saeed Rad, the managing director of the state-owned trading company, also points to the storage plans and says: last year, the country’s wheat production increased by 25% and the production reached more than 10 million tons, of which 7 million and 160 thousand tons were stored by this company in the form of Guaranteed purchase of agriculture was purchased.

He added: In addition, with the import of about 4 million tons of wheat in the first 8 months of the year, the warehouses and silos of the country are full of wheat so that we do not have to worry about the bread consumed by the people.

Expressing the importance and necessity of ensuring the security of the country’s food supply through the growth of production and the supply of basic goods, Rad said: Considering the production support policies to increase the purchase rate of an important product such as wheat, we are taking a step towards self-sufficiency.

He pointed out that the food security crisis caused by drought and global developments has doubled the need to supply the basic commodities of wheat from international sources.

Stating that the country’s wheat reserves have increased by about 2 million tons and have a growth of about 40% compared to last year, Rad stated: With the maximum possible capacity, wheat has been stored in the country’s warehouses and silos as the most important product of Iranian households.

*Food is the political leverage of the future countries/world in the hands of the producing countries

In today’s world, food is not only a provider of food security, but it is also considered the biggest tactic for political pressure, governments use the lever of food to implement their policies.

The second point is that as we move forward, the sensitivity of food supply for governments will increase because according to FAO statistics, in the next 50 years we will need 500 times more calories and energy than in the past 50 years.

This is while year by year production restrictions increase due to climate change, global warming, destruction of agricultural lands.
In such a situation, striving for self-sufficiency or at least reducing dependence on basic goods is a necessity, which is more obligatory for the country than bread.

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