TEHRAN, Apr. 22 (MNA) � Iran�s deputy-minister of agriculture has said government seeks to boost export opportunity to curb damage to producers.

Hassan Rokni told Mehr News on Wednesday that Iran had been among the world-level producers on honey, with excellent production capacities; �the country produces roughly 75,000 tones of honey, part of which is exported and remaining meets domestic demand, which averages 960g per capita honey consumption, which is more than four times that of the global average,� he added.

�A study in the country�s production conditions in 10 provinces indicates 5-10 per cent rise in the amount of honey produced in the fiscal year ending March 21, 2015, which is despite the decline in annual precipitation levels,� Rokni told Mehr News, �apart from natural climate conditions conducive to the increased honey amount, better apiary practices, new techniques, and genetic manipulation and improvement of the queen bees are also contributing factor,� he asserted.

�Turkey is a major destination for Iranian exported honey; Malaysia, India, and Afghanistan are other important destinations, with Persian Gulf Arab states very interested in importing this valuable nutritious product,� Rokni said, �the sheer diversity of plant species in the country translates into the same diversity in types of honey; in the same fiscal year, Iran�s honey exports reached 4,000 tones,� added the deputy-minister of agriculture, touching upon the issues raised about the low-quality and fake honey. �The possibility of forging fake products is a general concern and speculation, and the apiary industry is not an exception; however, to effectively address the issue, we allocated a lump sum of $286,000 to Iran�s National Association of Beekeepers to handle the issue through establishing a laboratory,� Rokni noted.

�The laboratory reportedly is technically capable enough to have a mandate on approving the real honey and detecting the fake honey, thus providing a level of confidence to consumers of honey that they buy real and authentic honey from the market, to which we have still a long way,� he admitted.

�The government provides the necessary supports for producers; now, our supply side has outpaced our domestic demand, with surplus supply sometimes damages the profits of the producers through lower prices,� Rokni told Mehr News, and believed that if continued, would adversely impact the production sector.

On a question about buyout of eggs domestically produced by poultry breeders, he said that government would only provide resources for the Association of Poultry Breeders as the major policy-maker on the subject. �We exported 70,000 tons of poultry products, with exported eggs amounting to roughly 65,000 tones, and 650,000 heads of livestock exported to Persian Gulf countries; we have not received the precise figures in exports of dairy products yet,� he detailed.

By Mehr News Agency