Pistachio Output, Exports Halved

Pistachio production and exports were halved in the last Iranian year (March 2022-23) due to a wide range of reasons, including drought and extreme weather, according to Arsalan Qasemi, the head of the Agriculture Commission of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives. “We lost more than 90% of the output in Kerman Province [the main pistachio producing region in Iran],” he was quoted as saying by IRIB News. Besides problems in the production sector, the export front also faces obstacles, the most important of which is the mandate for traders to sell their export earnings to the Central Bank of Iran at prices lower than the market rate, he added. Blasting CBI for its wrong move, he said the mandate is the most important obstacle faced by exporters.