A total of 1.1 million tons of pomegranates are expected to be produced from around 90,000 hectares across the country by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2022), according to an Agriculture Ministry official.
“Fars, Semnan, Yazd, Markazi, Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, Lorestan, South Khorasan, Kerman and Mazandaran are Iran’s main pomegranate cultivation hubs,” Zahra Jalili-Moqaddam was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that last year, more than 11,943 tons of the fruit worth $5.27 million were exported from Iran, with the main destinations being Armenia, the UAE, South Korea, Japan and Switzerland.
“After India with 2.44 million tons and China with 1.6 million tons of production per year, Iran is the world’s third biggest pomegranate producer and is followed by Turkey, Afghanistan, the US, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Spain,” she added.
According to the official, a total of 6.54 million tons of pomegranates are harvested from over 500,000 hectares across the globe every year, with each kilo priced at between $0.9 and $1 in the international markets.
Iran was the leading pomegranate producer in the world up until 2019, followed by India, China, Turkey and the US.
The country has the world’s biggest germplasm of pomegranates in Yazd, which is made up of a collection of 780 genotypes of the fruit.
The official noted that the market will be adequately supplied in the runup to Yalda Night – the eve of the first day of the winter solstice.
On the occasion of the night, which usually falls from Dec. 21-22, a nocturnal celebration is observed in Iran. The event, celebrated in the country since ancient times, is called Yalda that has coincided with Dec. 21 this year.
Yalda Night is celebrated 40 days prior to the Zoroastrian Fire Festival or Sadeh and is a social occasion, as family and friends get together for an enjoyable night, dining together and reciting poetry. Dried fruits, roasted nuts and seeds, as well as fresh winter fruits are often served.
Over 3m Tons of Watermelons Harvested
Watermelon is also a specialty alongside pomegranate, persimmon and medlar.
A total of 166,000 tons of watermelons have been harvested from 4,655 hectares since the beginning of autumn to adequately supply domestic demand in the runup to Yalda Night, according to an Agriculture Ministry official, Hossein Asghari.
“The volume will be used to exclusively supply the provincial markets in Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Fars, Bushehr and Ilam,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that a total of 3.18 million tons of watermelons have been harvested from 83,937 hectares in the current crop year.
“Last year’s production hit 3.7 million tons, around 210,000 tons of which were for Yalda Night.”
Asghari added that watermelon exports in the last Iranian year (March 2020-21) exceeded 703,000 tons worth $156.5 million.
The main export destinations for Iranian watermelon are the littoral states of Persian Gulf, Russia, Turkey and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Agricultural experts have frequently slammed the export of watermelon amid the acute shortage of water in the country.
Expressing his disapproval regarding the sheer volume of Iran’s watermelon exports amid the water crisis, Reza Nourani, the head of National Agricultural Products Association of Iran, says cultivating each kilogram of watermelon requires around 286 tons of water.
“The fact that the main agricultural crops imported into Iran is wheat, which needs much less water to grow, and that the main exported agricultural product is one requiring such a high volume of water indicates the height of mismanagement,” he was quoted as saying by the news portal of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
