A total of 5.8 million tons of citrus fruit are expected to be produced in the current Iranian year (March 2022-23) to register a 5.45% rise compared with last year, according to a deputy agriculture minister.
“Every year, more than 250,000 tons of citrus fruit are exported from the country,” Mohammad Mehdi Boroumandi was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
The official noted that oranges account for around 3.5 million tons of the total annual citrus production.
“The Agriculture Ministry plans to export citrus fruit to China, which has strict health protocols for the import of fruit and vegetables. Experts from China have visited our orchards, tested the products and officially agreed to start imports from Iran,” he added.
Mazandaran Province in northern Iran is a major producer and exporter of citrus fruit.
“At present, there are 500 sorting units with a capacity of 250,000 tons of citrus fruits, 119 cold storage facilities with a 473-ton capacity and 148 warehouse units with a capacity of storing 381 tons of such fruits in the province. This has increased exports and annually reduced the amount of fruit wastage,” Hadi Izadi, a local official, has been quoted as saying by IRNA.
Mazandaran’s citrus fruit orchards stretch across 112,000 hectares of the province, 110,000 hectares of which currently bear fruit. Out of the total figure, close to 80,000 hectares and 30,000 hectares have undergone orange and tangerine cultivation, as well as lemon, lime and bitter orange production.
According to Hossein Negahdar, the deputy head of Mazandaran Agricultural Organization, the northern province accounts for around a quarter of Iran’s total employment in the agriculture sector.
Mazandaran Province, located along the Caspian Sea, cultivates 72 kinds of agricultural products, the annual yields of which amount to nearly 7 million tons. The province accounts for only 2.5% of Iran’s arable land, yet produces 7% and 11% of the country’s agricultural products in weight and value respectively per year.
According to a local official, Hossein Ali Qovanlou, food industries account for 42% of the province’s production units.
With 150,000 hectares of orchards, Mazandaran is the top producer of horticultural products in Iran.
Boroumani noted that 400,000 tons of kiwis are produced annually in Iran’s two northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran on over 12,000 hectares.
“Russia is one of the main export destinations where our agricultural products go. Iran, at present, supplies 85% of Russia’s demand for kiwis,” he added.
Iran is home to about 8,000 hectares of kiwi farms, around 6,500 hectares of which are located in Mazandaran.
Around 222,000 tons of kiwis are harvested in Iran every year.
