Mehr News Agency is reporting that the Iranian government has reduced the targets for hybrid rice seed production laid-out under its Fourth Five-Year Socioeconomic Development Plan. An official told the news agency that the national plan had originally set a goal of 40 tons of hybrid rice seed for this year, but that the estimated production would only be 35 tons. The official, who was not named in the article, said that the governmnet had reduced the land allocated to hybrid rice seed production by 500 hectares. He also said there was an "absence of much effective supports from the responsible state-run organizations."Unfortunately the article doesn't explain why the state's getting cold feet. To be continued....