“The Cultivation of Chickpeas is Beneficial for the Environment”

According to Sina Press, an event called "Chickpea Event" will be held in order to identify innovative ideas in the food industry. The development of agricultural industries for commercialization and exports is one of the main approaches of Kermanshah Science and Technology Park, therefore, paying attention to and accelerating start-up activities and new technologies can pave a smoother path to improve employment and the market.

Shahab Khoshkhouy, director of the Agricultural Growth Center of Jahad-e-Daneshgahi Science and Technology Park in Kermanshah province in an interview with Sina Press said: "Chickpeas are among those crops that need little water; means that the plant will easily grow if the rainfall is slightly more than 250 mm per year. However, this amount of rainfall occurs in most parts of the country and sufficient conditions for growing chickpeas are provided. Planting also makes the soil fertile." 

He continued: "This plant can be placed in rotation of others especially grains, which create difficult conditions for soil fertility; As mentioned, the need for water and nutrients of this plant is not high. Such conditions motivated farmers in the Zagros provinces to turn to this type of cultivation. And this cultivation should be institutionalized in the agriculture of Kermanshah province. In fact, in Kermanshah province, chickpea is one of the crops that is cultivated almost everywhere and is the main agricultural product of the region."

He added: "So far, the Kermanshah Agricultural Research Centers have done a lot of research on the chickpea crop; For example, the Agricultural Research Center for Natural Resources, whose main research is on rainfed grown plants. One of these rainfed products is chickpea, which has been the subject of various studies. Since Kermanshah’s main economic driver is agriculture and the province contains many large universities, it was convincing enough to launch the "Pea Acceleration" event in Kermanshah Science and Technology Park."

"So, we want to find people who have new ideas to promote innovation and commercialize chickpea," he said. In this regard, we considered various axes other than production and cultivation, including educational and agricultural technologies, production of healthy and organic products, and conversion industries.

"Although we have many problems in the field of conversion industries; Many agricultural products are wasted and are of poor quality as a result of negligence in cultivation during the production and post-harvest; For this reason, a large volume of the product is thrown away; Therefore, another focus of the "chickpea event" is on the discussion of conversion industries, which includes food industry, pharmaceutical industry, and food culture reform and increasing per capita consumption of chickpeas; Because this food is rich in nutrients, including protein, that can be a good substitute for foods harming the environment. 

He said: "Another focus of this event is the supply and value chain." Also, the field of packaging, warehousing, transportation, marketing and branding are among the very important items for commercialization. People with innovative ideas can be supported by innovation centers of Science and Technology Park in Kermanshah province. "

According to Khoshkhouy, this event will be held in a virtual context by the collaboration of the University of Applied Sciences and Kermanshah Science and Technology Park.

"Today, the world is considering plants being a viable alternative to meat," Khoshkhouy said. "We need to include more plants in our eating habits. Moreover, we are planning to export chickpeas to neighboring countries, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan."

He considered the completion of the value chain of chickpea plant as another goal of this event and told Sina Press: "We are looking to complete the value chain of chickpea in this event. That is, to bring together innovative ideas in planting, caring, harvesting, marketing and conversion industries. We can improve the environment through production with reduced waste."

It is worth mentioning that this event will be held on July 13th in cooperation with Kermanshah University of Applied Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, and Jahad-e-Daneshgahi Science and Technology Park of Kermanshah Province.

 

No tags for this post.