Close to 9,000 tons of tea worth around $12 million were exported from Iran during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22), according to the head of Iran Tea Organization, Habibollah Jahansaz.
“This year’s tea harvest season ended on Oct. 22 and a total of 112,736 tons of fresh tea leaves worth more than 2.2 trillion rials (around $15 million) were bought from farmers. Despite the frost that set in during the spring and the water shortage we faced this year, production saw a 6% increase in weight compared with last year’s figure,” he was quoted as saying by ILNA.
The government has a guaranteed purchase system in place for many crops, including tea, to build up its strategic reserves and control prices in the domestic market.
The official added that close to 25,000 tons of dried and processed tea will be produced from this amount of tea leaves.
Tea undergoes three harvests a year: the spring harvest that starts in late April, the second in summer begins early June and the last one is in autumn and starts late September.
Tea is cultivated in Iran’s northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran where 50,000 families earn their living from tea farming on more than 25,000 hectares.
Iranians consume around 105,000 tons of tea per year, said Jahabsaz.
Close to 95% of tea orchards in Iran are rain-fed.
Iran also imports tea, mainly from India, Sri Lanka and Kenya.
Iranian tea is 100% organic and pesticide-free.
