An official in charge of Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization put Iran's annual production of medicinal herbs at 200,000 tons.
Fariborz
Gheybi, project commissioner for developing medicinal herbs department of the
Organization described cultivating and harvesting medicinal herbs as one of the
hidden potentials in natural resources of the country and said, “Iran's natural
resources enjoy high potential to generate revenue in such a way that it can be
substituted with oil resources.”
He
pointed to the identification of 2,300 herbal species with pharmaceutical
property in the country and said, “given the diversity in climatic conditions
in Iran, it can be said that many plants in the world can be cultivated in Iran
due to its fertile soil.”
He
further noted that most medicinal plants grown in Iran can be used in
pharmaceutical, industrial, cosmetics and sanitary industries.
The
history of properties of medicinal herbs dates back to many years ago, he said,
adding, “luminaries and distinguished personalities including Avicenna and Razi
used medicinal herbs as a healing source for the treatment of diseases.”
He
put the current annual production volume of medicinal herbs in the country at
over 200,000 tons, on a land area as large as 183,000 ha, expandable to 500,000
tons.
He
further noted the export of medicinal herbs in bulk and raw forms as a major
problem in this sector and added, “establishing factories for processing
medicinal herbs should be taken into consideration in order to compete with the
similar foreign products at the international level.”
Source:
MEHR News Agency