According to a report quoting the president's official website, Dr. Rouhani said at the fifth national congress of the house of farmers that fortunately within the last five years Iranian farmers have had a lot of success. He added that we need to promote sustainable agriculture and farming to preserve our soil and water as the two main pillars of agriculture.  

Criticizing roundly the way we treat our resources, Rouhani said that we do not value enough our rich and fertile soil as we have always been bestowed with plenty of that. He insisted that we have to preserve it and prevent it from corrosion.

He reiterated that the 11th government has been always supporting agriculture and farmers and the guaranteed purchase policies is an example. However, it should be taken into consideration that government's aids to farmers should be sustainable as well and it takes good management.

He continued that although most governments pay subsidies to the agriculture sector to support the farmers, such support should be managed in order not to cause them fail in maintaining the competitive advantage in global and regional markets.

The president remarked that Iran's agriculture sector have achieved a considerable success within the last 4 years with 21 million tonnes of increase in its production reaching from 97 million tonnes to 118 million tonnes. Thank to such efforts the balance of trade in agricultural products has shifted from minus 8.1 billion dollars  in 1392 hijri year to minus 3.09 dollars in 1395 hijri year with our imports of agricultural products decreasing from 13.4 billion dollars in 1392 hiri year to 7.2 billion dollars in 1395 hijri year.

Dr. Rouhani added that the achievements in agriculture sector is what the government is proud of but the government will not be able to go on with such approach to supporting this sector for long as the governmental aids to the sector are not limited to that. The government is also providing this sector with machineries and equipment for agriculture, irrigation canals, and drainage systems.

He put finger on the role that the house of farmers can play in helping the government to find optimal ways spending financial aids that the government provides for this sector. He said we need to direct such aids so that they are paid based on criteria such as low levels of water, herbicides and fertilizer consumption as well as productivity. He, then, said that the policies of guaranteed purchasing go back to 28 years ago and we cannot follow them any longer.

Dr. Rouhani also mentioned that agricultural practices should be done in such ways that do not harm the environment. We need to have a comprehensive approach towards agriculture and farming as we have been experiencing drought for more than 15 years and we are facing harsh climate conditions. That's why we need to prepare ourselves for a fundamental revision of our views and practices.

As to Iran's agricultural production Rouhani also mentioned that on one side they should be competitive regionally and globally and on the other we need to pursue seriously overseas farming so that we can produce in foreign countries products with no advantage of being produced in Iran.

He added that wheat is an exception as it is a strategic product and we need to produce it within our own borders at whatever cost. He finally added that  we need to take advantage of social media the virtual world in distribution of agricultural products so that unnecessary middlemen are eliminated, resulting in lower cost of production and a bigger share of earnings for the farmers.