A total of 176,000 tons of raisins worth $230 million were exported from Iran in the last Iranian year (March 2020-21), according to a deputy agriculture minister.
“Out of the total sum, around 35,000 tons were raisins produced in Malayer County of Hamedan Province, Iran’s grape production hub,” Mohammad Mehdi Boroumandi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Hamedan Province has over 80,000 hectares of vineyards that yield more than 450,000 tons of grapes per year, 50% of which are produced in Malayer.
According to Darab Hassani, an official with Agriculture Ministry, Iran has around 308,000 hectares of vineyards (289,000 hectares of which are productive) with an annual output of 3 million tons of grapes, out of which an average of 200,000 tons of raisins are produced every year, ILNA reported.
The main grape producing provinces in Iran, apart from Hamedan, are Fars, Qazvin, Khorasan Razavi, East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Zanjan and Markazi in a descending order.
Domestic raisins consumption is around 40,000 tons per year while production stood at 285,000 tons, according to Morteza Motamed, deputy for commercial affairs of the Central Organization for Rural Cooperatives of Iran.
Fiscal 2019-20 exports stood at 120,000 tons worth $164.27 million, showing a 5.72% and 7.41% rise respectively compared with the year before, he added.
According to Abbas Banazadeh, an agriculture expert, Iran is the world's third biggest producer of raisins after the US and Turkey, and the eighth biggest producer of grapes.
Iran’s biggest export destination for grapes and raisins is Russia. Other main customers are member countries of the European Union, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf littoral countries.
Raisin is Iran’s third major non-oil exports after carpets and pistachios, according to the head of East Azarbaijan Agricultural Organization, Akbar Fathi.
The traditional grape cultivation in Malayer County’s Jowzan Valley rural district was formally recognized as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in late 2018.
The announcement was made during a meeting in Rome of the GIAHS Scientific Advisory Group affiliated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations.
“We, as the responsible body in Iran in this respect, sent the proposal for Jowzan Valley grapes to be designated as a GIAHS in early 2017. Around 90% of the grapes produced in Malayer are cultivated in the vineyards of this valley,” Ali Kianirad, the deputy head of Research Department with the Agricultural Planning, Economic and Rural Development Research Institute affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry, told Financial Tribune.
Jowzan Vally is made up of 17 villages and accounts for the lion’s share of Malayer’s grape production.
The grape-based production system in Jowzan has a long history. Farmers have made grape cultivation possible in extreme cold conditions, thanks to unique techniques. Traditional knowledge and tools allow farmers to process more than 40 grape products out of 130 grape varieties. This, together with higher yield per hectare, unique skills of gardeners and the right sugar level are all factors that make the grapes and raisins of Jowzan Valley different from other parts of the country and a top seller among consumers, FAO wrote on its website.
Over the years, the system has significantly improved the locals' living standards, while giving a boost to local tourism and rural economy.
