Domestic rice production is estimated to exceed 2.1 million tons in the current fiscal year that ends in March 2017, indicating 8% increase compared to last year, according to deputy minister of agriculture Abbas Keshavarz.

“Genetically modified rice is neither produced in Iran nor imported into the country,” he was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying. The two northern provinces, Gilan and Mazandaran, are home to the majority of Iran’s paddy fields. Iranians consume three million tons of rice a year.

By Financial Tribune