A total of 7,500 tons of pomegranates were exported from Iran during the first eight months of the country (March 21-Nov. 21), registering a 100% rise compared with the similar period of last year, according to Zahra, an Agriculture Ministry official.
“Last year [March 2021-22], we exported 17,700 tons of the fruit worth nearly $8 million,” she was quoted as saying by ILNA.
She estimated this year’s production to reach as much as last year’s at 1.2 million tons.
Fars, Markazi, Khorasan Razavi and Yazd are the main producers of pomegranate in Iran.
The official said land under pomegranate cultivation is currently around 90,000 hectares. Average yields per hectare from these orchards stand at 14 to 15 tons.
After India with 2.4 million tons and China with 1.6 million tons of annual production, Iran is the world’s third biggest pomegranate producer and is followed by Turkey, Afghanistan, the US, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Spain.
She noted that 6.54 million tons of pomegranates are harvested from over 500,000 hectares of orchards across the globe every year, with each kilo priced at approximately $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.
Jalili-Moqaddam said the local fruit 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 between December 21 and 22, a nocturnal celebration is observed in Iran. The event, celebrated in the country since ancient times, is called Yalda, or Shab-e Chelleh where ‘Chelleh’ in Persian means 40.
This year, Yalda falls on December 21.
Dried fruits, roasted nuts and seeds, as well as fresh winter fruits are often served.
