Xinhua -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the�United Nations' Technical Cooperation Division and�Iran's Ministry of Agriculture, has launched a project to improve monitoring system of Iran's agriculture, Financial Tribune daily reported on Monday.

The plan, titled "Improving Agricultural Monitoring Systems Through Satellite Imagery for Iran," will be carried out in Mazandaran, Zanjan and Kerman provinces.

The project, with the allocation of 489,000 U.S. dollars, is aimed at assisting the country in the monitoring and analysis of agricultural production to achieve sustainable agricultural development.

"Our project will identify sustainable methods for field data collection to produce improved, harmonized and consolidated statistics, based on data collected by provincial agriculture offices," Esther Kuisch Laroche, the FAO representative ad interim to Iran, was quoted as saying.

The project will benefit from the availability of multi-temporal satellite images for testing and monitoring a range of crops for the selected provinces, she said.

The satellite images will also enable Iran's Ministry of Agriculture and other government entities to collect near real-time crop field information.

The improved monitoring system will virtually support the development of the Agricultural Market System, which will enhance food market transparency and encourage coordination of policy action in response to market uncertainty.