Volume 1, Issue 1 (1-2026)
Economy and Food Security 2026, 1(1): 47-56 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Shirzadi Laskookalayeh S, Mohammadi Darzikolayi M. (2026). A Comparison and Economic Analysis of the Tissue Culture Export of Iranian Agricultural Products with Neighboring Countries. Economy and Food Security. 1(1), 47-56. doi:10.61882/efs.2025.38
URL: http://efs.sanru.ac.ir/article-1-38-en.html
URL: http://efs.sanru.ac.ir/article-1-38-en.html
1- Department of Agricultural Economics, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, and a Member of the Medicinal Plants Biotechnology Research Institute, Sari, Iran
2- Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran
2- Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran
Abstract: (1452 Views)
Extended Abstract
Background: The expansion of agricultural exports in the world has led to the use of various methods by different countries to increase the production of this sector and have a stable share of the global market to increase their competitiveness in the world. Among them, one of the important methods for increasing agricultural production is the use of the tissue culture technique. Tissue culture is one of the new technologies for utilizing knowledge-based economy, which can improve the performance of agricultural products, increase the resistance of agricultural products against natural threats (such as pests and diseases), and save time and cost for the propagation of various agricultural plants (especially horticultural crops), leading to improving the comparative advantage of exports, reducing production costs, and increasing added value. Therefore, the use of plant tissue culture significantly increases food security by improving crop yields, ensuring disease-free planting material, and enabling the production of nutrient-rich plants, which are essential to meeting the growing global food demand. The expansion of using the tissue culture technique, both in terms of importing this input into the country, producing this product, and exporting it to different parts of the world, indicates the progress of the agricultural sector in a country. Therefore, this study focuses on Iran's advantage in the tissue culture export of horticultural products compared to its neighbors.
Methods: Comparative advantage is an important economic criterion for planning production, exports, and imports. It may be transferred from one region to another over time and with scientific and technological advances. In the present study, two methods, namely revealed comparative advantage and symmetrical revealed comparative advantage, were used to analyze the economic export of tissue culture of agricultural products in Iran and neighboring countries. The data required for this study were received from the World Food Program and the International Trade Center and included information on tissue culture exports of Iran and its 16 neighboring countries (Iraq, Armenia, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Qatar) during the period 2002 to 2020. Moreover, the six-digit tariff code of this product (060290) was used to obtain information on tissue culture exports.
Results: A study of the tissue culture export trends in neighboring countries from 2015 to 2020 shows that Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan have tissue culture exports, and these countries can be considered potential competitors in tissue culture exports. A study of the tissue culture export status shows that Turkey and Iran rank first and second, with average values of $18.5 million and $15.4 million in tissue culture exports, respectively. The UAE and Russia are in the next ranks, with average exports of $1.5 and $0.7 million each. Furthermore, the average export growth rates in the three countries (Iran, Turkey, and Russia) are 103, 18, and 40 percent, respectively, so that the average growth rate of tissue culture exports from Iran is much higher than the global average (6 percent). The results of the estimated indices show that all the studied countries, except for Afghanistan, have a revealed comparative advantage in tissue culture exports. However, calculating the symmetrical revealed comparative advantage index shows that nine countries (Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Turkmenistan, Oman, Qatar, and Iraq) do not have a comparative advantage. The lowest and highest values of revealed comparative advantage were calculated at 0.14 and 1, respectively, belonging to Kazakhstan and Iran. In the present study, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan are ranked second and third in tissue culture exports, with values of 0.99 and 0.93, respectively. A comparison of the relative advantage status of tissue culture exports in Iran and neighboring countries shows that the lowest changes in the comparative advantage index belong to Iran, Turkey, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan, and the remaining countries have large changes in the values of comparative advantage indices. The most important reason for this result can be attributed to the large fluctuations in tissue culture exports from neighboring countries. Iran's situation in terms of the comparative advantage index is much better than that of its neighbors (except for Turkey), so that more than 50 percent of Iran's neighboring countries are not in a good situation in this regard. Among Iran's 16 neighboring countries, Turkey, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan are considered the most important competitors in tissue culture exports.
Conclusion: The results of the estimation of the revealed comparative advantage and symmetrical revealed comparative advantage indices indicate that Iran has a comparative advantage in tissue culture exports, which is consistent with studies conducted on the comparative advantage of other agricultural product exports. Considering the trend of improving the tissue culture trade situation in Iran, it is recommended that the relevant authorities take necessary measures, such as supporting tissue culture production units and establishing new tissue culture production units. It is also necessary to increase Iran's export share by reducing exports to countries with tissue culture re-exports and finding new markets for these products, along with strengthening the brand of domestic producers.
Background: The expansion of agricultural exports in the world has led to the use of various methods by different countries to increase the production of this sector and have a stable share of the global market to increase their competitiveness in the world. Among them, one of the important methods for increasing agricultural production is the use of the tissue culture technique. Tissue culture is one of the new technologies for utilizing knowledge-based economy, which can improve the performance of agricultural products, increase the resistance of agricultural products against natural threats (such as pests and diseases), and save time and cost for the propagation of various agricultural plants (especially horticultural crops), leading to improving the comparative advantage of exports, reducing production costs, and increasing added value. Therefore, the use of plant tissue culture significantly increases food security by improving crop yields, ensuring disease-free planting material, and enabling the production of nutrient-rich plants, which are essential to meeting the growing global food demand. The expansion of using the tissue culture technique, both in terms of importing this input into the country, producing this product, and exporting it to different parts of the world, indicates the progress of the agricultural sector in a country. Therefore, this study focuses on Iran's advantage in the tissue culture export of horticultural products compared to its neighbors.
Methods: Comparative advantage is an important economic criterion for planning production, exports, and imports. It may be transferred from one region to another over time and with scientific and technological advances. In the present study, two methods, namely revealed comparative advantage and symmetrical revealed comparative advantage, were used to analyze the economic export of tissue culture of agricultural products in Iran and neighboring countries. The data required for this study were received from the World Food Program and the International Trade Center and included information on tissue culture exports of Iran and its 16 neighboring countries (Iraq, Armenia, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Qatar) during the period 2002 to 2020. Moreover, the six-digit tariff code of this product (060290) was used to obtain information on tissue culture exports.
Results: A study of the tissue culture export trends in neighboring countries from 2015 to 2020 shows that Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan have tissue culture exports, and these countries can be considered potential competitors in tissue culture exports. A study of the tissue culture export status shows that Turkey and Iran rank first and second, with average values of $18.5 million and $15.4 million in tissue culture exports, respectively. The UAE and Russia are in the next ranks, with average exports of $1.5 and $0.7 million each. Furthermore, the average export growth rates in the three countries (Iran, Turkey, and Russia) are 103, 18, and 40 percent, respectively, so that the average growth rate of tissue culture exports from Iran is much higher than the global average (6 percent). The results of the estimated indices show that all the studied countries, except for Afghanistan, have a revealed comparative advantage in tissue culture exports. However, calculating the symmetrical revealed comparative advantage index shows that nine countries (Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Turkmenistan, Oman, Qatar, and Iraq) do not have a comparative advantage. The lowest and highest values of revealed comparative advantage were calculated at 0.14 and 1, respectively, belonging to Kazakhstan and Iran. In the present study, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan are ranked second and third in tissue culture exports, with values of 0.99 and 0.93, respectively. A comparison of the relative advantage status of tissue culture exports in Iran and neighboring countries shows that the lowest changes in the comparative advantage index belong to Iran, Turkey, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan, and the remaining countries have large changes in the values of comparative advantage indices. The most important reason for this result can be attributed to the large fluctuations in tissue culture exports from neighboring countries. Iran's situation in terms of the comparative advantage index is much better than that of its neighbors (except for Turkey), so that more than 50 percent of Iran's neighboring countries are not in a good situation in this regard. Among Iran's 16 neighboring countries, Turkey, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan are considered the most important competitors in tissue culture exports.
Conclusion: The results of the estimation of the revealed comparative advantage and symmetrical revealed comparative advantage indices indicate that Iran has a comparative advantage in tissue culture exports, which is consistent with studies conducted on the comparative advantage of other agricultural product exports. Considering the trend of improving the tissue culture trade situation in Iran, it is recommended that the relevant authorities take necessary measures, such as supporting tissue culture production units and establishing new tissue culture production units. It is also necessary to increase Iran's export share by reducing exports to countries with tissue culture re-exports and finding new markets for these products, along with strengthening the brand of domestic producers.
Type of Study: Research |
Received: 2025/07/20 | Accepted: 2025/10/25
Received: 2025/07/20 | Accepted: 2025/10/25
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
