Iran, Turkey sign 3 MoUs for agricultural cooperation

Iran and Turkey signed three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on Wednesday in the fields of horticulture, beekeeping and veterinary affairs, Eghtesadonline news website reported.

The MoUs were signed in a meeting held in the Iranian capital Tehran between Iran's Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati and his Turkish counterpart Bekir Pakdemirli.

Turkey can also assist Iran in its projects to develop greenhouses, Pakdemirli said in the meeting session.

"We hope you (Iranians) don't go anywhere else for help in this field," he was quoted as saying.

The area under greenhouse cultivation in Iran is currently more than 12,000 hectares. Over 70 percent of the area is dedicated to growing vegetables, according to the report.

Iran plans to increase the greenhouse cultivation area to more than 48,000 hectares by 2025 to produce 21 million tons of agricultural products annually.

The Iranian Agriculture Ministry also plans to transfer all vegetable farms to greenhouses within 10 years to save 10 billion cubic meters of water per year.

Currently, Iran is home to less than 0.3 percent of the world's greenhouses, according to Eghtesadonline.