The value of exports from Mazandaran Province stood at $140 million during the first six months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Aug. 22), registering a 20% rise compared with the previous year’s corresponding period, according to Rahim Bakhshi, a local official.
The main exported products during the period were dairy products, citrus fruits and disposable dishes.
Iraq, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the UAE, Uzbekistan, Romania, Afghanistan and India were the main destinations, IRNA reported.
Total exports from Mazandaran reached $179 million in the fiscal 2020-21 and $278 million in the fiscal 2021-22.
Mazandaran Province is located in the north of Iran along the Caspian Sea coastlines.
The total commercial capacity of the ports of northern Mazandaran Province stands at 13 million tons, of which Amirabad accounts for 7.5 million tons, Noshahr 4.5 million tons and Fereydounkenar 1 million tons.
The province 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 storage capacity of 381 tons of such fruits in the province. This has increased exports and reduced the annual volume of fruit waste,” Had Izadi, a local official, has been quoted as saying by IRNA.
Mazandaran’s citrus fruit orchards stretch across 112,000 hectares, 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 and on the rest lemons, limes and bitter oranges are grown.
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 in northern Iran, 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 annually produces 7% and 11% of the country’s agricultural products in weight and value respectively.
According to Hosseinali Qovanlou, a local official, 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.
