The Islamic Republic of Iran is a large country with an area of more than 164 million hectares. Its elevation ranges from -25 to 5600 m and its temperature from -30 to 50C. Two sugar crops, sugar beet and sugarcane, are grown in Iran for sugar production. The total annual sugar production of the country is about 1.2 million tons, 700,000 tons of which is obtained from sugar beet and the rest from sugarcane. The average annual sugar beet production area is approximately 180,000 hectares.