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Sugar beet is one of the reasons for the drying up of Lake Urmia

2025.09.03, 20:23
Sugar beet is one of the reasons for the drying up of Lake Urmia

One of the most important reasons for the drying up of Lake Urmia is the excessive cultivation of sugar beet in the region.

Gunaz.tv

The Agricultural Organization of West Azerbaijan Province has released the latest information on this.

According to the information, a total of 2.1 million tons of sugar beet were produced in the province in the last year.

"This ranks first in Iran, accounting for 35% of the country's sugar beet production," the information said.

Since sugar beet is a water-intensive crop, in most countries this crop is planted in the fall.

However, due to the harsh climate of West Azerbaijan Province, sugar beet is planted here in the spring.

This affects the further depletion of groundwater and surface water resources.

Iranian sugar beet requires 3 times more water than the world average in terms of water consumption, and about 9 times more water than the world standard in terms of water required for irrigation!

Despite the region's water shortage and the drying up of Lake Urmia, the Iranian government's recent encouragement of local farmers to plant sugar beets is not a good sign.

Although environmentalists have suggested that the region should completely eliminate crops that require a lot of water and replace them with crops that require less water, the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture continues to push back.

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