Iran may lose 70% of its cultivated land if urgent measures are not taken to overcome climate challenges, said Kalantari, vice president and head of Iran’s Environment Department.

“The excessive consumption of water, especially from groundwater, is a threat and could have terrible social consequences,” he warned adding that if the situation is not brought under control, “we would lose about 70 percent of our cultivated land in a maximum of 20 to 30 years.”

“The south of Alborz and east of Zagros, if we don’t take swift action, will become unusable for agriculture,” Tasnim reported quoting Kalantari. 

According to the UN, which oversees nutrition and agriculture in the country, Iran, which has a population of about 80 million people, mainly depends on agriculture.