Iran has spent around $620 million for the mechanization of agriculture since the March 21, which marked the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, local reports have said.
Kambiz Abbasi, the head of Iran’s Agricultural Mechanization Development Center was quoted by the reports as saying that the government had paid 26 trillion rials (about $619.04 million) of the allocated budget for this purpose.
That amount reportedly equals 87 percent of the total budget allocated to a credit line for agricultural mechanization.
According to Abbasi, the money has been used to supply agricultural machinery, tools, and equipment in various fields, including horticulture, livestock, poultry, and aquaculture.
This allocation would ensure achieving the production goals of the Agriculture Ministry at the beginning of the new crop year, Abbasi was quoted by the reports as saying.
It is estimated that more than 86 percent of the country’s wheat, barley and rapeseed fields will be fully mechanized in the current Iranian calendar year, he added.
The ministry has been allocating a separate credit line for mechanization of the agriculture sector every year.
Since 2013, eight credit lines have been opened for this sector.
More than 95 percent of the technology and knowledge in this area is domestic, despite US sanctions, said the reports.