Financial Tribune- Iran�s trade balance in the agriculture sector narrowed to minus $2.06 billion during the seven months of the current Iranian year (started March 20) from minus $2.2 billion for the corresponding period of last year. This shows a 6.3% improvement, according to the planning and economy deputy of the Agriculture Ministry.

�Agricultural exports during the seven-month period amounted to more than 3.2 million tons, registering close to 18% rise in weight year-on-year. Agricultural exports during the period accounted for 4.4% and 11.5% of Iran�s total non-oil exports in weight and value respectively,� Abdolmehdi Bakhshandeh was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

According to the official, imports of agricultural products declined by 6.2% in weight.

The top five exported agricultural products, according to the official, were watermelon, fresh or frozen tomato and potato, onion, shallot and apple.

The five main imported products were livestock corn, soybeans, grains excluding livestock wheat, animal feed and press cakes from soybeans and barley, seeds excluded.