An official at Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture Jihad (MAJ) said on Monday that domestic oilseed supply is expected to rise to cover 40% of local demand within the next 10 years.
Sa’adollah Mansouri, who heads the MAJ’s Department for Cotton and Oilseeds, said a target has been set to raise domestic oilseed and oil cake production to meet 20% of local demand by the end of the current five-year economic development plan, which runs until 2029.
Mansouri said domestic oilseed output is projected to reach about 0.4 million metric tons in the current Iranian calendar year ending in late March, accounting for roughly 10% of domestic demand.
He said the MAJ’s efforts to boost self-sufficiency include plans to expand the cultivation of camelina, safflower, sesame, and dry-farmed sunflower, crops that require less irrigation and are considered suitable for Iran’s climate.
The official said the government is also seeking to limit imports of oilseeds and cooking oil to encourage domestic production, while obliging cooking oil producers to purchase crops from local farmers to qualify for access to subsidized foreign currency for imports.
MAJ figures released last year showed that Iran spends up to $5 billion annually on imports of cooking oil and oilseeds.
The figures indicated that Iran has relied on imports, mainly from Brazil, Russia, and Indonesia, to meet its growing demand for cooking oil and oilseed in recent decades.
Land dedicated to oilseed farming in Iran increased by nearly 50% to about 155,000 hectares in the Iranian calendar year ending in March 2025, the data showed.
Press TV