Mehr News Agency

According to Ebrahim Hezarjaribi, the executive of the Cotton Project at the Ministry of Agriculture, Iran’s annual cotton production will reach 386,000 tons by 2025, making the country self-sufficient in using the material in the textile industry.

Last Iranian year (ended March 20), the country’ self-sustainment coefficient stood at about 45%, he said, adding that figure in envisaged to reach 58% this year.

According to him, the cotton sowing area is expected to reach 82,000 hectares this year.

It is expected that 228,000 tons of cotton will be harvested this year, he added.

"The sowing area will reach 90,000 hectares by 2021 and 100,000 hectares by 2025. The production will increase by 281,000 tons by 2021," he said.

Iran has the capacity to increase cotton production, but the low price of cotton compared with other agricultural products discourages farmers from embarking upon cotton cultivation.

According to, the CEO of Iran Cotton Fund, Hossein Kaviyani, “Cotton cultivation can create six times more jobs than wheat, four times as many as corn and colza, and 2.5 times as many as soybean production. Each job generated in a cotton plantation indirectly leads to the creation of five jobs in related industries and services.”