Iran exported 3.36 million tons of agricultural and food products worth $1.85 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22), new data released by the Agriculture Ministry show.
The figures indicate a decrease of 14.77% in tonnage and a 20.33% in value compared with last year's corresponding period.
Watermelon topped the list of exports in terms of value with $161.35 million. Tomato was the second major agricultural export product in terms of value with $144.47 million, followed by pistachio with $128.34 million, saffron with $65.71 million and dates with $57.33 million.
In terms of tonnage, again watermelon topped the list with 731,910 tons, tomato with 308,820 tons, followed by Persian melon with 204,400 tons, apple with 159,460 tons and onion, shallot and garlic with 157,180 tons.
Agronomic products accounted for 2.44 million tons worth $815.71 million of total exports, down 9.59% and 12.46% in terms of tonnage and value respectively.
Horticultural exports amounted to 580,020 tons worth $603.720 million, down 34.99% in terms of tonnage and down 42.22% in value respectively.
Exports of livestock and poultry products reached 270,330 tons worth $303.32 million, down 7.98 in tonnage, but up 14.89% in value.
The veterinary sector exported 384 tons of products worth $2.5 million, down 32.31% and 51.76% in weight and value respectively.
The fisheries sector exported 57,840 tons worth $124.33 million, posting a rise of 26.54% and 61.08% in total volume and value respectively.
Exports from the forest and rangeland sector hit 7,590 tons worth $9.83 million, up 6.84% in terms of tonnage, but down 9.25% in terms of value, respectively.
Iran exported 8.48 million tons of agricultural and food products worth $5.23 billion in the fiscal 2021-22 (ended March 20) and 8.83 million tons worth $6.21 billion in the year before.
Watermelon Export Amid Drought
As mentioned above, watermelon was the top horticultural product exported from Iran, both in terms of value and tonnage.
A total of 902,102 tons of watermelon worth $208.58 million were exported from Iran to 43 countries in the last Iranian year (March 2021-22), registering a 28% and 33% rise in weight and value respectively compared with the year before, according to the former spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
"Our main export destination was Iraq with around 465,000 tons of purchases worth $95 million, followed by the UAE with 233,000 tons worth $53 million, Oman with 39,000 tons worth $17.4 million, Russia with 28,000 tons worth $14 million, Turkey with 55,000 tons worth $11 million, Afghanistan with 32,000 tons worth $6.4 million and Qatar with 30,000 tons worth $6 million," Rouhollah Latifi was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
Other customers of Iranian watermelon, he added, were Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, the UK, Italy, Sweden and Serbia.
Agricultural experts have frequently warned against the export of watermelon, a water-intensive crop, amid the acute shortage of water in Iran.
Expressing his disapproval of the high volume of watermelon exports, 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 testifies the extent of mismanagement," he was quoted as saying by the news portal of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
In a report, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture has warned agricultural officials of an imminent drought that would cripple the country's agricultural activities and hamper economic growth in this sector in the current Iranian year (March 2021-22).
The ICCIMA report says precipitation levels have fallen drastically.
The Majlis Research Center has released a list of Iranian provinces in a critical state of water shortage: Isfahan, Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Ardabil, Fars, Markazi and Khorasan Razavi.
"Drought has inflicted 670 trillion rials [$2 billion] in losses on Iran's agriculture sector since the beginning of the current crop year," Mohammad Mousavi, director general of the Agriculture Ministry's Crisis Management Department, said in June 2021.
Masoud Khansari, president of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, says Iran is likely to lose 70% of its agricultural lands in future to drought.
"Experts have sounded the alarm about this grave danger but so far little attention has been paid to this challenge," he wrote for the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations issued in its latest report a stark warning of multiple, looming food crises, driven by conflict, climate shocks, the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and massive public debt burdens - exacerbated by the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine, which has pushed food and fuel prices to accelerate in many nations across the globe.
FAO has also warned about the shortage of water resources in Iran, saying Iranian farmers use two to three times the global average of water used to cultivate corn, rice and wheat per hectare. Experts recommend the government to employ 10-year water austerity measures rather than adopting a political stance to resolve this issue.
Imports at $8.2 Billion
Agrifood imports stood at 10.97 million tons worth $8.22 billion during the six-month period, indicating a 26.04% and a 1.69 decline in weight and value YOY, respectively.
Rice worth $1.26 billion had the biggest share of imports in terms of value, followed by wheat worth $1.19 billion, feed corn worth $1.17 billion, GM soybeans worth $925.23 million and hydrogenated oil worth $858.29 million.
In terms of tonnage, feed corn topped imports with 2.95 million tons, followed by wheat with 2.76 million tons, followed by GM soybeans with 1.16 million tons, rice with 1.05 million tons and unrefined sugar with 580,150 tons.
Agronomic products accounted for 10.21 million tons worth $6.76 billion of total imports, down 27.07% and 3.47% in tonnage and value YOY, respectively.
Horticultural products stood at 656,720 tons worth $997.31 million, down 13.11% in tonnage, but a rise of 8.81% in value YOY.
Imports of livestock and poultry products hit 84,040 tons worth $266.65 million, up 45.96% and 34.83% in tonnage and value, respectively.
The veterinary sector imported 2,197 tons worth $148.79 million, down 5.25% and 23.6% in terms of tonnage and value, respectively.
Imports by the fisheries sector amounted to 4,250 tons worth $12.21 million, down 24.92% and 18.66% in tonnage and value respectively.
The forest and rangeland sector's imports totaled 15,130 tons worth $30.41 million, down 13.11% in tonnage, but up 8.81% in value.
The export and import volumes indicate that Iran recorded an agrifood trade deficit of 7.61 million tons in tonnage and $6.36 billion in value during the period under review.
30% of Agricultural Production Wasted
A total of 130 million tons of agricultural products are harvested in Iran per year, close to 30% of which go to waste, according to the head of the National Productivity Organization of Iran.
"To produce this 30%, some 9 billion cubic meters of water are consumed and this is only part of the resources that go to waste. Add to this the energy, fuel, transportation fleet and labor costs involved," Mir Salan Pishvaei was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
According to the official, potable water consumption in Iran reached 11 billion cubic meters in the last Iranian year (March 2021-22).
