NCRI – Incompetence by rulers in Iran has been blamed for the closure of 195 mushroom production plants, with the loss of 80,000 jobs, in the past year.
Mohammad Hossein Afshar, the managing director of mushroom association in Iran, claimed that the regime’s improper pricing and negligence of the industry’s problems had forced the shut downs.
He told the ILNA news agency: “In the past year, 195 mushroom production units out of 410 total units closed down. This year also, 3 production units in the city of Shahriar and 2 in Isfahan went broke.
“In Iran’s mushroom breeding industry, 20,000 workers are engaged directly and 100,000 workers indirectly. Negligence towards the problems of this industry not only hits mushroom production but also affects the increase in unemployment.
“Insufficient training of workers means productivity of this work force is also not satisfactory.”“
Afshari said 90,000 tons of mushrooms were produced last year, adding: “This year we will also produce the same amount, while the production potential is over 640 thousand tons in one year.”
In 1994, 30 per cent of the internal production was exported and stated: “Currently, due to the lack of proper management, mushroom exports have seen a great slump.”
