J. Tavakolian
Office of Planning, Programming and Coordinating Research Affairs
Department of Education and Research, Ministry of Jahad Sazandagi
P.O. Box 15745 – 834 Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran, in south-west Asia, is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea; on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; on the south by the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf; and on the west by Iraq and Turkey. It has an area of 1,648,000 km2 and a population estimated at about 60 million, of whom about 54% are city dwellers. Iran is dominated by a central plateau, which is about 1220 m high and is almost ringed by mountain chains. In the north, paralleling the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, are the Elburz Mountains, which include the highest peak in Iran, Mount Demavend, 5601 m. Along the western border, the Zagros Mountains extend south-east to the region bordering the Persian Gulf. Lower mountains lie to the east of the central plateau. Except for the relatively fertile plateaus of the northern provinces of Azerbaijan, mountain soils are thin, heavily eroded, and infertile. The narrow Caspian coastal plain, in contrast, is covered with rich brown forest soil. The only other generally flat area is the plain of Khuzistan in the west. Two great deserts extend over much of central Iran, the Dasht-i-Lut, which is covered largely with sand and rocks, and the Dasht-i-Kavir, which is covered mainly with salt. Both are inhospitable and virtually uninhabited. In winter and spring, streams flow into the Dasht-i-Kavir, creating small lakes and swamps, but at other times of the year both deserts are extremely arid.
Iran is divided climatically into four main regions:
Average annual precipitation is about 305 mm, varying from 125 mm in the desert to about 1270 mm in the plains along the Caspian Sea.
The semi-humid plateaux provide grazing for livestock. In the Zagros Mountains, forests are mainly of oak, elm, pistachio and walnut. On the seaward slopes of the Elburz Mountains and on the Caspian plain, vegetation is abundant, with broadleaf deciduous trees such as ash, elm, oak and beech, and some broadleaf evergreens, ferns and shrubs. The arid plateaus are mainly scrub and cactus.
There are an estimated 50 million hectares of agricultural land, of which 30 million hectares are suitable for cultivation. At present, because of the limitations of topography and availability of water, only 18.5 million hectares are cropped or fallowed. Of these, about 8.5 million hectares are irrigated, with 5.7 million hectares in annual and 1.6 million hectares in permanent crops, and 1.2 million hectares in fallow. Ten million hectares, two-thirds of which are cropped, are in rainfed areas. The expansion of agriculture is not limited by land resources, but better management is necessary to achieve high yields.
Most of Iran’s rivers flow during only part of the year, when precipitation is heaviest. The most important rivers flow off the mountains on the slopes facing the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. The Karun River, flowing from the Zagros Mountains to the Arvand-Roud at Khorramshahr, is the country’s main navigable river. Apart from the Caspian Sea, Iran has few large lakes. Most have no outlet; they shrink through evaporation during the hot, dry summer and have a high salt content. The largest lake entirely within Iran is Lake Urmia, in the north-west.
Water resources are the most important natural factor limiting agricultural expansion and development. Annual precipitation is estimated at between 350 and 400 billion cubic metres, and there is an additional 10 billion cubic metres from the rivers. Only 115 billion cubic metres, however, are available for use, because of evaporation from bare soil surfaces, evapotranspiration by natural vegetation and outflow of the rivers into the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea and neighbouring countries. At present, 60 billion cubic metres are available for agricultural production.
The basic ideas of supplementary irrigation and water harvesting are well known in Iran. In some parts of the country, farmers have used canals and dykes for hundreds of years for spreading flood water over small parcels of land to increase water penetration into the soil profile and conserve water for crop production. In recent years, many dams have been built and many more are under construction. The objective of the government is to bring as much water as possible into agricultural use.
Table 1 shows milk, meat, fibre and egg production for 1996. Iran plans to produce about 19 million tonnes of animal products annually by 2021. To achieve this, it needs to exploit its vast genetic diversity and natural resources, and to invest in processing and marketing. Animal production has the advantage of a large workforce and relatively powerful cooperatives and associations, as well as a large private sector.
Table 1. Milk, meat, fibre and egg production in Iran in 1996.
| Animal species | Number | Milk | Meat | Fibre | Eggs |
| (w 103) | (w 103 t) | (w 103 t) | (w 103 t) | (w 103 t) | |
| Cattle | 5,356 | 2,911 | 180 | – | – |
| Sheep | 37,420 | 826 | 190 | 45.5 | – |
| Goats | 18,923 | 636 | 77> | 3.7 | – |
| Buffalo | 218 | 108 | 9 | – | – |
| Camels | 87 | 10 | 4.2 | 0.04 | – |
| Donkeys | 1,176 | – | – | – | – |
| Horses | 133 | – | – | – | – |
| Mules | 115 | – | – | – | – |
| Chickens, broiler | 321,000 | – | 624 | – | – |
| Chickens, layer | 27,298 | – | – | – | 415 |
| Native poultry | 23,529 | – | 15 | – | 23 |
| Ducks, turkeys, geese | 9,599 | – | 6 | – | 12 |
Source: Statistical Centre of Iran
The main constraints are:
Research priorities and ongoing projects include
