Strategic Food Reserves Are Adequate

The deputy minister for planning and economic affairs at the Ministry of Jihad-e Agriculture, outlining various dimensions of food security in the country, announced the stability of strategic reserves and the government's special attention to the role of small rural units in passive defense.

According to Ambassador Arjan's report, Akbar Fathi explained the concept of food security, the actions of the government in crisis situations and recent wars and said: The most basic definition of food security is that sufficient, healthy and high-quality food should be available to the members of the society all year round.

He added: We saw a clear example of this stability in the recent war and the developments of the past months. So that despite the war and crisis conditions, no shortage was felt in the stores of the country and all the needs of the people were met. While according to the international standard, this security must be maintained in any crisis, war or natural disaster, and fortunately, the government has been able to manage these conditions well.

The Deputy Minister of Agricultural Jihad, enumerating the main components of food security, added: If we want to examine the components of food security, it includes food availability, access to food, food health, and the sustainability and ecological capacity of production environments.

Fathi added: Regarding the availability and supply of food, fortunately, our dear producers in different sub-sectors have maintained their production in these difficult conditions by making preparations, providing production inputs and also timely import of livestock inputs and essential goods. On the other hand, the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, on behalf of the government, has prepared secure strategic reserves for at least 6 months of the year in the country's warehouses so that we don't have to worry about food supply in adverse conditions.

Stating that access to food is related to physical access and distribution network as well as economic access, he stated: Physical access, which was completely tangible thanks to the distribution network; So that even during the war and in spite of traveling beyond the normal limits, the traveling provinces did not face any problems in providing food. In the field of economic access, the government has always tried to strengthen people's purchasing power with different tools so that they can provide food.

Fathi added: In the food health sector, our producers try to produce healthy food by closely monitoring the management of the consumption of chemical inputs. Also, strict inspections are carried out at import points to prevent unhealthy food from entering the country.

Deputy Planning and Economic Minister of Jihad Agriculture said: Finally, regarding ecological power and sustainability, we must also think about the future generations and use the existing potentials in such a way that the ecological power and resilience of the environment is maintained.

Referring to the country's vastness and high potential in food production, the deputy minister of agricultural jihad stated: small rural and nomadic units and small production units in the field of protein and starch may not be included in the definition of large production units in terms of macroeconomics, but due to the requirements of passive defense, they greatly increase the country's food resilience.

By announcing that 85% of the calories and energy needed by the country are produced internally and only about 15% (mainly livestock inputs) is dependent on imports, he emphasized: A country that produces 85% of its protein and energy internally has a very high resilience in normal and critical conditions and should not worry about this.

transition from traditional to knowledge-based agriculture; Sustainable development requirements

Referring to the limitation of water and soil resources and population growth, Fathi noted: due to the limitation of resources, it is not possible to increase the cultivated area; Therefore, we have to move towards sustainable development by increasing productivity per unit area and knowledge-based agricultural activities and distance ourselves from traditional agriculture.

He considered the economics of agricultural activities to be a prerequisite for entering new technologies and added: the producer should benefit from conventional profit in order to be receptive to technology. In addition to increasing performance, the development of transformation and complementary industries is also of great importance. According to the statistics of the Statistics Center, of the total 138 million tons of products produced in the country, a suitable capacity for processing has been created, but due to the changing taste of consumers, we need to invest more in transformation industries.

In the end, Fathi emphasized the necessity of developing trade in agricultural products and said: production in excess of the country's needs requires a suitable platform for foreign trade in order to ensure the continuity of production and the stability of the producer's income alongside the government.