FPA's Venlo glasshouse in Karaj under a clear sky

Scientific depth. Industrial execution.

Fakour Peyvand Aria is an Iranian horticultural technology company, established in 2024 to advance grafted vegetable seedlings and controlled-environment propagation.

01 The company

One platform for propagation.

FPA combines plant material, production facilities and technical knowledge within one propagation platform. Seedling production is our current operational priority.

Our new production complex — its design, sourcing and construction — has been carried out with Iranian expertise, at the University of Tehran's horticultural research station in Karaj.

  • 01Grafted SeedlingsQuality-controlled production based on crop, rootstock and production objective.
  • 02Nursery and Graft FactoryEngineering support for propagation, healing and acclimation facilities.
  • 03Data-Based ConsultingCrop, climate, irrigation and root-zone assessment.
  • 04FPA AcademyApplied training built around nursery and greenhouse decisions.

02 Leadership

Two founders,
two kinds of experience.

Three decades of research in vegetable grafting, joined with three decades of building machinery, plants and companies in heavy industry.

Dr. Reza Salehi

Scientific leadership · Co-founder and Scientific Director

Dr. Reza Salehi

Associate Professor of Horticultural Sciences at the University of Tehran, where he has spent nearly 30 years — from student to faculty member — across greenhouse education, research, extension, consulting and production, with a special focus on grafted seedlings.

  • Ph.D. in vegetable physiology and breeding, with emphasis on vegetable grafting — University of Tehran, 2008
  • Trained with Professor Jung-Myung Lee, Kyung Hee University, South Korea, 2008–2009
  • Around 100 publications; nearly 100 graduate researchers supervised
  • Board member, Iranian Horticultural Science Society
Eng. Ali Haratian

Industrial leadership · Co-founder and CEO

Eng. Ali Haratian

An industrialist and investor with three decades of leadership in heavy industry — from designing and building special-purpose machinery for mining and steel to running industrial operations and leading companies, most recently at the head of a mineral-processing operator.

He is a shareholder in a diversified Iranian industrial holding whose companies span engineering and construction, energy, mining, infrastructure and agri-food.

30
years of industrial leadership
Holding
shareholder in a multi-sector industrial group
  • Design and manufacture of special machinery for mining and steel
  • Industrial management: plant commissioning, operations and HSE
  • Recent executive leadership in mining and mineral processing
  • Investment, governance and delivery of large industrial projects

03 The path so far

Three decades,
one subject.

FPA is young as a company. The knowledge behind it is not.

  1. 2004–08

    A doctorate in grafting

    Ph.D. at the University of Tehran on vegetable physiology and breeding, with an emphasis on vegetable grafting.

  2. 2008–09

    Learning in South Korea

    Vegetable-grafting training with Professor Jung-Myung Lee at Kyung Hee University.

  3. 2014

    First international symposium

    Oral presentation at the 1st ISHS International Symposium on Vegetable Grafting, Wuhan, China.

  4. 2021–22

    Light and healing

    Published studies on LED lighting during healing and acclimatization of grafted watermelon seedlings.

  5. 2024

    FPA is founded

    Reza Salehi and Ali Haratian establish Fakour Peyvand Aria and begin the production complex in Karaj.

  6. 2025

    Third international symposium

    Findings on LED light quality and cucumber scion development presented in Thessaloniki, Greece.

  7. Today

    Phase 1 takes shape

    The plant factory, the Venlo glasshouse and multi-tier healing chambers at the University of Tehran research station in Karaj.

04 Research & innovation

Protocols built
on long-term research.

Our production protocols come from research in vegetable grafting, seedling physiology and controlled-environment propagation — with growers and commercial partners in real greenhouses and fields.

  • Tomato, cucumber, watermelon, melon and eggplant
  • LED light, healing, acclimation and seedling quality
  • Rootstock performance under salinity and soil-borne disease
  • Greenhouse and field trials with growers and partners
Grafted eggplant with fruit

Research greenhouses · University of Tehran

Eggplant on tomato rootstock

How grafting eggplant onto tomato rootstock influences plant growth, yield formation and fruit quality under controlled conditions.

Financially supported by FPA

Grafted tomato establishing in soil

Commercial greenhouse · private partner

Tomato in soil-based greenhouses

How a tomato rootstock affects establishment, vigour, yield continuity and marketable fruit quality in commercial soil conditions.

Applied research under commercial conditions

Research greenhouse: non-grafted tomato on the left, grafted tomato on the right, labelled in the photo

Research greenhouse trial

Tomato at high root-zone sodium

Above 1,000 ppm sodium, the grafted plant kept a stronger canopy and a visibly higher fruit load than the non-grafted plant.

Specific to the tested combination and protocol

18 m²42 levels

A separate R&D pilot unit for controlled-environment propagation and protocol development.

Published research

Peer-reviewed,
and open to check.

A few of the studies behind our protocols. Every title links to its DOI.

  1. 2022
  2. 2021
  3. 2016
  4. 2014
All grafting publications (14)
  1. 2023
  2. 2021
  3. 2017
  4. 2015
  5. 2015
  6. 2015
  7. 2014
  8. 2014
    Effects of deficit irrigation and grafting on yield and fruit quality of Iranian ‘Khatooni’ melonActa Horticulturae
  9. 2010
  10. 2008

From the ORCID record of Dr. Reza Salehi, 0000-0002-7192-2948 — around 100 publications in total.

05 International experience

Learning from the
best, then building here.

  1. Greenhouse visit during training in South Korea
    South Korea · 2008–09

    Kyung Hee University

    Vegetable-grafting training with Professor Jung-Myung Lee.

  2. Group photo at the first international symposium on vegetable grafting
    China · 2014

    Wuhan symposium

    1st ISHS International Symposium on Vegetable Grafting — participation and oral presentation.

  3. Certificate at Delphy, the Netherlands
    The Netherlands

    Delphy

    Advanced greenhouse management training.

  4. Research greenhouse visit at Wageningen
    The Netherlands

    Wageningen University & Research

    Research greenhouse visit.

  5. Technical visit at De Ruiter Experience Center
    The Netherlands

    De Ruiter Experience Center

    Tomato rootstock evaluation trials: vigour, crop balance, yield and fruit quality.

  6. Visit to a commercial grafted-seedling nursery in Antalya
    Türkiye

    Antalya

    Commercial grafted-seedling nursery visit.

  7. Nursery visit during the 2025 symposium in Greece
    Greece · 2025

    Thessaloniki symposium

    3rd International Symposium on Vegetable Grafting — LED light quality and cucumber scion development.

06 Facilities

Where the work
happens.

Both sites are in Karaj. Installed infrastructure is shown; output depends on crop and production schedule.

The grafting room of FPA's plant factory

Karaj

Plant factory for grafted seedlings

150 m²
industrial hall
2
graft chambers, 3 × 6 m — 4 and 7 tiers
10
operators in the grafting room
25
participants in the training unit
Movable benches with seedling trays in the Venlo glasshouse

Karaj · University of Tehran research station

Integrated production complex

Venlo
glasshouse with movable benches and ebb-and-flow fertigation
Auto
seed sowing line and controlled germination room
50
people in the grafting hall
10
tiers per LED-lit healing chamber
Students in a practical grafting session

07 FPA Academy

Knowledge that stays — and travels.

FPA Academy turns research and field experience into practical training, inside a working plant factory and in growers' own greenhouses.

  • ManagersProduction planning, performance indicators, operational risk
  • Technical teamsPropagation, grafting, healing, climate, irrigation, crop assessment
  • GrowersEstablishment and management of grafted crops after transplanting
  • StudentsA practical pathway from university training to grafting work

Work with us

Joint trials, projects, partnerships.

We welcome seed and nursery companies, greenhouse developers, technology providers, research organisations and investors.

Start a conversation

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Visit us

Head office & nursery.

Fakour Peyvand Aria (FPA)
Karaj City, Alborz Province, Iran
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