6. The government’s approach for self-sufficiency in basic products/ increasing the country’s food security factor by relying on domestic production

According to the economic reporter of Fars News Agency, the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad has keyed the increase of self-reliance and food security in the country with 6 approaches. .

Decreasing dependence on imports and increasing domestic production, in addition to ensuring the country’s food security, also plays an important role in the political relations of governments, today’s world has made production and distribution more difficult due to some barriers, and for this reason, countries are moving towards relying on They are inclined to domestic production and have invested heavily.

Climate changes, global warming, disruption of supply with the spread of the Corona virus and then with the wars in Russia and Ukraine have made the production and supply of food in the world very difficult and complicated, and these are enough reasons for countries to rely on domestic demand to give priority to domestic capacities, especially in basic goods.

* 6 approaches of the Ministry of Jihad for self-sufficiency in basic products

In this regard, the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad pursues the increase in production in all agricultural products, especially basic goods, with 6 main approaches, and the common denominator of all these approaches is Increasing the food security factor is based on the domestic capacities.

1- Implementing the cultivation model

The first national meeting of the agricultural crop cultivation model for the crop year 1401-1402 was unveiled and announced with the presence of the first vice president, the minister of Jihad Agriculture, members of parliament and the deputies of the minister of Jihad Agriculture. This plan encourages farmers to go towards basic crops. The amount of water products will be reduced and the production will go towards products effective in food security.

In this regard, the Minister of Jihad of Agriculture says: the implementation of the cultivation model in the country has resulted in a 6% reduction in water consumption equivalent (3 billion cubic meters), an 18% increase in water efficiency, an 11% increase in production, a saving of 2.2 billion dollars in foreign currency, and an increase in 4.5 million tons of production. Rainy fields and a 158% increase in the production of oilseeds.

2-Focusing on the poles of production

The weather and climate conditions of each region make production more suitable for some agricultural products, and if they are cultivated according to those conditions, production and productivity will increase. The important agricultural hubs in the country are Khuzestan, Moghan, Qazvin, Sefid Roud, Mazandaran, etc., for each of which more detailed planning is done.

There is also a law with the title “Agricultural Development Law in Agricultural Poles” which is followed in 19 articles, in the first article of this law it is stated: “In order to fully exploit the water and soil resources and the investments made by the government in the planning areas and The agricultural poles mentioned in Article 2 are regulated for the development of water resources through the establishment of surface or underground water containment facilities and water supply, the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources is obliged to prepare comprehensive plans for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry.

3-Development of contract agriculture

In contract farming, farmers are supported under a contract by the private sector, and after harvest they buy the produce at an agreed price.

The main problem of farmers in recent years was the lack of liquidity in the stages of cultivation to harvest, which reduced the production and income of farmers.

In this context, the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad has concluded a 5.2 million hectare contract for agriculture with the Imam’s Command Implementation Headquarters.

Last week, the Minister of Agricultural Jihad announced the allocation of 15 thousand billion Tomans for contract farming and described contract farming as the most modern tool known in the world.

4- Identification of low-input and high-input production systems

Reducing production costs and using products that have more production with minimum input, the income of farmers will increase and production in the country will also grow.

The plan of the Ministry of Jihad of Agriculture is to breed products that have the highest production with the lowest cost by modifying resistant and productive species. With this method, cultivation can also be done on lands that are of poor quality and are not currently cultivated. There are 18.5 million hectares of arable land in the country, most of which are not cultivated. In fact, with this method, more agricultural land can be cultivated.

5- The structure of access to inputs and services

Each chemical fertilizer unit of 9 and Ahad plays a role in increasing production, and if access to inputs at a reasonable price is provided, production will exceed the current figure of 125 million tons.

In addition to that, chemical poisons, which are inputs to control pests and diseases, can prevent up to 35% of the loss of agricultural products in the country.

Every year, 35 to 40 percent of agricultural products in Iran and in the world are lost during the production and consumption process, of which pest and disease are the most important factors; They also waste the food and water used in their production. You need to know that 15,500 liters of water are used to produce one kilogram of beef.

6-Effecting the finish of the final product

The Ministry of Jihad pursues the reduction of production cost by any method, increasing yield, improving resistant and productive seeds, training farmers and extension, using knowledge-based companies, optimizing export markets help to reduce costs.

One of the major problems of our agriculture is that it is produced at a higher cost, and because of this, the farmer has little income and the price becomes more expensive in the market.

* Products for which a self-sufficiency program has been developed

According to the Minister of Jihad Agriculture, in the next crop year, many plans will be adopted in order to increase the self-sufficiency of agricultural products in the pricing council, and all these policies will not end with an increase in the guaranteed purchase rate. The government’s vision is to create 100% self-sufficiency in wheat and rice, and self-sufficiency in cotton will be achieved in two years.

He said that the oilseed self-sufficiency program is a time-consuming task, and for this reason, it is predicted that 50% self-sufficiency in the country will be produced within the next 4 years.

According to Fars report, the examination of the world situation in the food supply issue has put the politicians in a difficult situation. The recent war between Russia and Ukraine showed how much more vulnerable the world’s food security is. With a war, the global price of wheat, food, and food will grow up to 200%. Livestock and other products occurred and the order of food supply in the world was disrupted.

In the situation where there is any possibility of harming food security in the current inflamed environment, we must think about the day before and this can be done by relying on domestic production, which is on the agenda of the 13th government.

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