Extreme Cold Inflicts $1.4b in Damage to Iran’s Orchards

Extreme cold has inflicted around 400 trillion rials ($1.4 billion) in damage to orchards across the country last month (ended March 20), an Agriculture Ministry official said.
“Orchards in the provinces of Kerman, Yazd, Fars, Isfahan, Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan, Khuzestan, Ardabil, Hamedan, Markazi, Qom, Semnan, Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad and Golestan were the hardest hit,” Mohammad Mehdi Boroumand was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
He noted that a total of 450,000 hectares of orchards suffered damage, including 202,000 hectares of pistachio orchards, 66,000 hectares of almond plantations, 47,000 hectares of vineyards and 20,000 hectares of walnut orchards.
The Agriculture Insurance Fund is working to compensate part of the huge losses, he added.