Rouhani gives top priority to agriculture

“Ideas and achievements of the elite should be used in agriculture, industry and mining, and people should reap the benefits,” President Hassan Rouhani said at a meeting with the elite in Khorasan Razavi (September 7).

Fortunately, over the last year the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad and the Center for Information and Public Relations have created a good atmosphere, bringing agricultural issues to the attention of the public, the government and parliament and prompting authorities to take the supply of food and improvement in agriculture more seriously.

During the past year, the first vice president has paid five visits to centers for agriculture research, a fact which underlines the importance the government attaches to the sector. Other vice presidents have also paid similar visits.

President Rouhani, who was born and bred in the countryside and is well aware of farming, usually turns to former Agriculture Minister Issa Kalantari for advice. He pays serious attention to ideas floated by Mahmoud Hojati, who was at the helm of the ministry for two terms.

The president’s recent remarks about agriculture indicate that he puts agriculture ahead of industry and mining, signaling that he lays considerable emphasis on the sector responsible for the production of 120 million tons of crops and food.

There is hope his approach will result in a solution to the problems the agriculture sector and farmers are grappling with.