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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iran
Index
Desert, wasteland, and barren mountain ranges cover about half
of Iran's total land area. Of the rest, in the 1980s about 11
percent was forested, about 8 percent was used for grazing or
pastureland, and about 1.5 percent was made up of cities, villages,
industrial centers, and related areas. The remainder included land
that was cultivated either permanently or on a rotation,
dry-farming basis (about 14 percent) and land that could be farmed
with adequate irrigation (about 15 to 16 percent). Some observers
considered the latter category as pastureland.
In most regions, the natural cover is insufficient to build up
much organic soil content, and on the steeper mountain slopes much
of the original earth cover has been washed away. Although roughly
half of Iran is made up of the arid Central Plateau, some of the
gentler slopes and the Gulf lowlands have relatively good soils but
poor drainage. In the southeast, a high wind that blows incessantly
from May to September is strong enough to carry sand particles with
it. Vegetation can be destroyed, and the lighter soils of the
region have been stripped away.
In mountain valleys and in areas where rivers descending from
the mountains have formed extensive alluvial plains, much of the
soil is of medium to heavy texture and is suited to a variety of
agricultural uses when brought under irrigation. Northern soils are
the richest and the best watered. The regions adjacent to Lake
Urmia (also cited as Lake Urumiyeh and formerly known as Lake
Rezaiyeh under the Pahlavis) and the Caspian Sea make up only about
25 percent of the country's area but produce 60 percent or more of
its major crops.
The land reform program of 1962 affected agricultural lands and
the production of crops. Implemented in three stages, the program
redistributed agricultural lands to the peasantry, thereby
lessening the power of the feudal landlords. By the time the
program was declared complete in 1971, more than 90 percent of the
farmers who held rights to cultivation had become owners of the
land they farmed. The new owners, however, became disillusioned
with the government and its policies as their real economic
situation worsened by the late 1970s.
On average, the minimal landholding for subsistence farming in
Iran is about seven hectares. If each of the 3.5 million
sharecroppers and landowners in villages (as of 1981) were given an
equal share of land (from the 16.6 million hectares of cropland),
each family would be entitled to only 4.7 hectares, not enough land
for subsistence farming. Even if there were sufficient arable land,
many of the sharecroppers could not afford to buy more than four of
the seven hectares needed for subsistence farming.
The basic rural landholding infrastructure did not change after
the Revolution. A minority of landowners continued to profit by
exploiting the labor of sharecroppers. Prior to the land reform
program, feudal and absentee landlords, including religious leaders
responsible for vaqf land, comprised the ruling elite. Over
the years, vaqf landholdings grew considerably, providing
many Iranian clergy with a degree of economic independence from the
central government. Redistribution of the land resulted in power
being transferred to farmers who acquired ten or more hectares of
land and to the rural bourgeoisie
(see State and Society, 1964-74
, ch. 1). Uncertainty about the prospect of effective land reform
under Khomeini contributed to a massive loss of farm labor--5
million people--between 1982 and 1986.
Emphasis on subsistence agriculture persisted because of the
lack of capital allocated after the Revolution, perhaps because the
regime's technocrats were from urban areas and therefore uninformed
about agriculture, or because the bazaar class, which constituted
a disproportionate share of the 1979 government, did not represent
the interests of agriculture. Uncertainties about future
landownership, as well as the war with Iraq, caused further
disruption of agriculture. Ten percent of agricultural land fell
into Iraqi hands between 1980 and 1982, although the territory was
subsequently regained by Iran. The war stifled agricultural
development by causing a loss of revenue and by draining the
already shrinking agricultural labor pool through heavy
conscription.
Data as of December 1987
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