Funding Shortfall Constrains Iran's Rainfed Farming Programme as Ministry Reports Faster Planting

Majid Anjafi, the Agriculture Ministry's deputy for crops, said on Monday, November 9, 2026, that about 4.6 million hectares of rainfed land are under cultivation in the current crop year. He said the programme was estimated last year to need 3 trillion tomans, but less than 200 billion tomans has been funded, limiting its full implementation.

Anjafi put the value of output from the programme in the 1404-1405 crop year at about 457 million dollars, and said around 500 thousand tonnes of fodder were produced on rainfed land; growing that amount on irrigated land would have required about 350 million cubic metres of water. The area sown to camelina has doubled from last year, and the goal is for rainfed oilseed output to reach about 600 thousand tonnes by the programme's fifth year.

He added that planting began earlier because of weather warnings about El Nino, with sowing so far about 35 percent ahead of the same point last year. About 8 thousand conservation-farming machines and implements have been distributed under the programme.