Iran is the world’s third largest producer of cherry after the United States and Turkey, says the director of Oshnavieh County’ Agricultural Jihad Organization in West Azarbaijan Province.
“According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Iran produces up to 260,000 tons of cherries per annum,” Anvar Hosseini was also quoted as saying by IANA, addressing the First National Festival of Cherry last week.
Oshnavieh’s 274 hectares of cherry orchards yield over 1,000 tons of premium quality cherries every year, part of which are exported to the Central Asian countries, Iraq, Turkey and Armenia, he added.
Oshnavieh in northwestern Iran receives water from mountains the entire year. It lies west of Urmia Lake about 1,300 meters above sea level and borders the Kurdish provinces in Turkey and Iraq. Cherry is one of the main agricultural products of Oshnavieh.
Iranians are great connoisseurs of cherries. Per capita consumption of the fruit in the country stands at 3 kilograms.
Khorasan Razavi, West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Isfahan and Semnan are the main producers and exporters of cherry in Iran and their main export destinations are Iraq, Azerbaijan Republic, Russia and Arab countries.
