At the opening ceremony of this exhibition, Ruhollah Dehghani Firouzabadi, Acting Vice President of Science and Technology, emphasized the lucrative market of the field and said: There is national capacity, specialized power and a huge history for the development of this industry in the country.

He added: 8 thousand plant species have been identified in the country, of which 2 thousand 500 plants have medicinal properties and 1 thousand 800 species are native to Iran.

Referring to the fact that there are more medicinal plants in Iran than in the whole world, Dehghani Firouzabadi said: Considering that we have good and efficient upstream documents in this field in the country, we should use this national capacity for the economic development of the country.

Stating that this amount of plant species in the country is our national capacity in this field, he said: We have valuable documents in the field of medicinal plants and traditional medicine, and the document of medicinal plants approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution is a great capacity for the field. It has been created, among which we can mention, the turnover of 3 billion dollars.

Stating that this amount of financial turnover creates a golden opportunity for young people and knowledge-based companies, the acting vice president of science and technology continued: If we add things such as the refining of medicinal plants and secondary metabolites to these opportunities, we can increase the turnover to 15 billion dollars a year in the field of medicinal plants.

He reminded: the secondary market of medical equipment, traditional medicine and secondary products have high added value and the entry of knowledge-based companies into this field can help the market boom and generate income for the country.

Referring to the promising opportunities in this area, Dehghani Firouzabadi said: An example is the Ferula gummosa plant, which originated in the country and whose gum is exported for $30 per kilo and returns to Iran with an added value of one thousand billion dollars.

He continued: As a supporter for the field of medicinal plants, the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology is trying to develop the market of medicinal plants and traditional medicine, and in the form of the headquarters for the development of science and technologies in medicinal plants and traditional medicine, the growth and influence of technology and creativity will increase in this field.

We develop the cultivation of medicinal plants with contract farming

In this ceremony, Javad Sadatinejad, Minister of Agricultural Jihad, emphasized that there is local and climatic capacity in Iran for the growth and development of medicinal plants, and said: Currently, we have 280 hectares of land under the cultivation of medicinal plants and we are trying to implement the model of cultivation in the country, we should replace the cultivation of medicinal plants with some water-intensive plants and with lower added value.

He added: One of the priorities of agricultural jihad is the development of contract agriculture. A model of cultivation and production that we started with grains and will extend to medicinal plants. In this type of cultivation, the farmer is sure of the market and buyer of his products and is encouraged to enter the field.

He also said: Research shows that the medicinal plant industry can take 2% of the national gross product. We should try to reduce crude sales and complete the value chain of this industry with the help of knowledge-based companies.

Communication and Information Center in the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology