Almond Exports Earn $25m p.a.

Some 160,000 tons of sweet almond valued at close to $1 billion are produced in Iran every year, of which 4,000 to 5,000 tons worth $25 million are exported to 26 countries, including Turkey, India, Germany and the littoral states of the Persian Gulf, according to Ramezan Rouintan with the Ministry of Agriculture.

The official added that per capita almond production in Iran stands at 2 kilograms per year, whereas the global figure is in the neighborhood of 400 grams, Mehr News Agency reported.

In Iran, more than 160,000 hectares of orchards are under almond cultivation. The main producers of the nut include Fars, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Khorasan Razavi, Hamedan, Markazi, East and West Azarbaijan, South Khorasan, Yazd, Kermanshah, Qazvin and Lorestan provinces.