Iran (Islamic Republic of)

General Information

· Main climates: Subtropical Steppe & Semi-arid, Subtropical Desert & Arid, Subtropical Humid, Subtropical Dry summer

· Total land area: 163 600 000 ha

· Internal renewable water resources: and 117.5 km³

· GNP per capita, 1998: PPP$ 5 121

· Main food consumed: Wheat, Oil & Fat, Rice, Sugar & Honey, Fruits

· Rice supply, 1999: 43 kg paddy/capita/year

Basic Statistics

Producing Zones and Cropping Seasons

Rice is planted mainly in Mazandaran, Gilan, Kurzestan, Isfahan and Far. More than 80 percent of rice harvested areas were found in Mazandaran and Gilan coastal areas around the Caspian sea in the north, where the climate is sub-tropical humid and very different to the rest of the country. The following table shows the rice-harvested areas in different provinces in the country.

Rice is grown once year, from April - May to August - September. There is attempt to grow a ratoon crop of rice from the harvest of the main season.

Production Practices

Rice is planted mostly under irrigated conditions. Rice-wheat is the dominant cropping pattern. Rice-ratoon rice has been practised in limited areas in Mazandran and Gilan provinces. Other rice-based cropping systems include Rice - Clover, Rice - Brassica, Rice - Lettuce, Rice - Vegetables, and Rice - Vicia faba. Most of rice varieties belong to indica sub-species. The Iranian market, however, is dominated by aromatic rice, which become flaky and soft when cooked. Iran is well known for its famous long and fine quality rice known as Sadri. The traditional varieties with medium and/or short grains are called Champa. Farmers have adopted a number of high yielding varieties.

· Aromatic varieties

· Non-aromtaic varieties

About 60 000 ha in Mazandaran were previously planted to Amol 2 and Amol 3, but Khazar and Sepeedrod have gradually replaced them. Nemat, a newly released variety has occupied 13 000 ha during 1996. Neda has coverage of 20 000 ha in Mazandaran province and Dasht is another variety, which occupied around 10 000 ha in 1996. Most rice crops are still established by manual transplanting, although mechanisation is being introduced. The Government at present is making determined efforts to bring in land consolidation at the rate of 1 000 hectares per year to introduce farm mechanisation. Farmers generally apply fertilizers to rice. The rice response to fertilizer application is shown in the following table.

Constraints and Issues of Sustainable Production

• Drought due to lack of irrigation water.

• Salinity in limited areas in Mazandran and Khuzistan.

• Blast, bakanese, sheath blight and sheath rot.

• Stem borer is major insect pest.

• High rainfall during September causes difficulty in harvest and post harvest operation.

The stagnation of the yield potential of rice varieties and the reduction in water supply require the development and deployment of new rice varieties with higher yielding potential and more efficient water use. The current farmers' yields could be increased through the introduction and adoption of novel crop management approach such as the Rice Integrated Crop Management (RICECHECK) popularized in Australia.

Research and Development Institutes

· Rice Research Institute of Iran, Ministry of Agriculture, P.O. Box 1658 Rasht, Iran.

· Ministry of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Extension Service Evin, Teheran Phone: 222889

· Ministry of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Seed & Plant Improvement Institute P.O. Box 4119 Mardabad Avenue 31585 Karaj Phone: (0261) 22858 Telex: 214295 Fax: (0261) 29405

· Rice Research Station P.O. Box 19 Amol Phone: (0231) 23037 Fax: (0231) 61051