About us
Agricultural research has a long background in Fars province. It started with sugar beet research in 1953 in Zarghan City and 6 years later, Darab Research Station was established. These two research departments were mainly concerned with high yielding seed varieties adapted to the local condition. In 1960’s, other research activities were initiated including Plant Pest and Diseases and Natural Resources. Currently, the main building of Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (FANREC) is located in Shiraz and the affiliated research stations are located in Zarghan, Eghlid, Darab, Estahban, Jahrom, and Kazeroun.
FANREC has research departments including Seed and Plant Improvement Research, Plant Protection Research, Soil and Water Research, Sugar Beet Seed Research, Agricultural Engineering Research, Forests and Rangelands research, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research, Animal Science research, Economics, Social and Extension Development research and Aquatics and Fisheries research. The staff of this center is 327 employees, 91 of whom are faculty members.
In general, the mandate of FANREC is to promote, streamline, coordinate, and regulate all aspects of research in agriculture development, and also promote the application of the research findings and technologies in the province. Basic, strategic, and need-based area-specific applied research in Agriculture, Horticulture, Agriculture Engineering, Forestry, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, and other allied fields are conducted in this Center to develop technologies relevant to the farming community for livelihood security and high farm income. Furthermore, academically qualified human resources through different applied and academic programs are developed in different branches of agriculture & allied sciences. The Center helps and provides technical guidance to the state Govt. for development of agriculture in the province and develops collaborative linkages with state agriculture universities, govt. departments, national & International organizations for fulfilling above objectives.
The main research programs include research on crop varieties and plant genetic resources adaptable to local conditions, Implementation of research in determining the most suitable methods of crop production under various environmental condition of the province, research on different aspects of food processing and reduction of postharvest losses, practices for minimizing environmental pollution from agricultural activities, reconnaissance, conservation, rehabilitation, utilization and sustainable management of forest, range and deserts and socio-economic evaluation of agricultural and natural resources research and development projects. About 650 projects have been carried out within the last 5 years.