Parliament Chairman of Agriculture Committee: We Support Agricultural and Technology Driving Projects

“One of the remarkable issues in today's world is the application of IoT in different aspects of agriculture,” said Dr. Mohammad Jafar Sadigh Damghanizadeh, the Minister’s Advisor and President of ICT Park, at the beginning of the meeting and after greeting the visitors, referring to the applications of IoT in various fields, including agriculture. 

"In fact, in the near future, agriculture will get away from farming professions and will be integrated into food factories. One of the foremost issues to be taken into consideration is that the more we move towards greenhouse cultivation in Iran, the more successful we will be in consuming water,” he said. 

“For instance, in traditional Iranian farms, one kilogram of tomatoes needs 300 liters of water to grow, but in the Netherlands, the same amount needs 3 liters of water,” continued the Minister’s Advisor and President of ICT Park. 

“In order to solve this problem, we have to welcome greenhouses. The Ministry of Agriculture-Jihad is looking for large-scale greenhouses; however, the important point is that a few people in Iran are capable of maintaining large greenhouses since it demands vast knowledge and broad investment. In Iran, human resources mainly include young people deprived of investment capital. Hence, we need to shift into conserving greenhouses with distributed methods and the scale of 100 to 200 meters. However, this method is neither economic nor always scientific. Therefore, we need to turn to IoT technology to enhance its performance,” he clarified.

In the course of this meeting, Dr. Mohammad Javad Askari, the Parliament Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, thanked the president of the ICT Park for introducing the park and sharing his viewpoints: “Today, great progress has been made in different industries all around the world; however, the issue of food security is a concept that attracts everyone's attention since food security depends on national security. Today, at least 500 million people in the neighboring areas of the middle-east are interested in the Iran's agricultural products. Fifteen years ago, Brazil used to import food, but today it exports food for 1.5 billion people. Such progress is the outcome of their earnest attention to agriculture,” he said.

“Iran has not yet made enough use of all its internal capacities and surrounding spaces; that's the reason why the intellectual elites tend to migrate,” Dr. Mohammad Javad Askari also pointed out. “We may not forget that human resources are huge assets for our country,” he added. 

“Fortunately, the parliament committee has made great plans regarding food security, price amendments, and the guaranteed purchase of agricultural products, which have already paved the way though they demand more attention,” continued the head of the parliament agriculture committee. 

“A system must be designed through which our country's demand for each product, the amount required for export, product maintenance, and production rates are specified. Unless this system is designed and the required connections are established between the agricultural sectors and science and technology parks, no significant progress will be achieved. It is also necessary for science and technology parks to engage intellectual elites and academics in the multiple aspects of agriculture and phytosanitary. The mission of science and technology parks is highly appreciated as long as they progress in accordance with proper plans and roadmaps,” he emphasised.

“Today, the world's progress in science is truly accelerated. We need to strengthen our infrastructures and provide the required bases for the deemed progress. Certainly, if we pay attention to the agriculture sectors, we can cancel the country's oil valves and gain the required income from agriculture. ICT Park has many great potentials for this aim,” concluded Dr. Mohammad Javad Askari.

“The Agriculture Committee of the Parliament has claimed its tendency to develop ICT Park, and especially, the agriculture and technology driving projects, and aims to lead the country toward production and employment. We shall not forget that we are responsible toward our nation, and what remains is people's judgment of the officials' undertakings,” added the representative of Darab in the end.

It should be noted that besides Dr. Mohammad Jafar Sadigh Damghanizadeh, the Minister’s Advisor and President of ICT Park, and Dr. Mohammad Javad Askari, the Parliament Chairman of Agriculture Committee, Dr. Ehsan Chitsaz, the Market Development deputy of ICT Park; Dr. Abbas Ghanbari Baghestan, the Advisor of Communication and International Affairs; Eng. Javad Yazdanpanah, the Deputy of ICT Park’s Technology Development, were also present in this meeting.