Rise in Mazandaran Citrus Exports

Close to 340 tons of citrus fruits worth over $135,300 were exported from Mazandaran Province during the 11 months to February 18, registering an 87% and 60% growth in tonnage and value respectively, IRNA reported. This is while close to 30% of citrus fruits grown in the northern Iranian province were hit by frost in November.

More than 2.2 million tons of citrus fruits are cultivated on 110,000 hectares of land in Mazandaran every year, which meets nearly 50% of the domestic demand.

The government says it plans to grant 800 billion rials (over $21 million) in aid to farmers whose orchards were damaged this crop year.

“Farmers will receive the grant before the yearend (March 20). Between 250,000 and 300,000 tons of oranges and about 90,000 tons of kiwis were lost,” the head of Mazandaran Agricultural Jihad Organization, Delavar Heydarpour, has been quoted as saying.  “About 80,000 hectares of farms were affected by the frost, while only 6,000 to 7,000 hectares or around 8% of these farms were insured,” he added.