Tea, Herbal Drinks Campaign Planned

A campaign will promote Iranian tea and herbal drinks in the city of Lahijan in the northern Gilan Province from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1.

Planned by Iran’s Tea Research Center, Iranian Medicinal Plants Society and Iran Tea Organization, the event is aimed at raising awareness about the health benefits of tea and herbal drinks, apart from addressing challenges facing Iran’s tea and herbal drinks industry, IANA reported.

According to Reza Azadi, chairman of Iran’s Tea Research Center, Iran’s annual tea consumption stands at 110,000 tons, 25-30 tons of which are produced domestically, IRNA reported.

Iran imports tea from India, the UAE, Sri Lanka and Kenya.

The provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran are home to 25,000-28,000 hectares of land under tea cultivation.

According to Chairman of Iran Tea Organization Mohammad Vali Rouzbehan, production of fresh tea leaves is estimated to reach 100,000 to 105,000 tons in the current Iranian year (ending March 20, 2018) to register a 24-28% decline compared with last year due to shortage and low precipitation.

According to Rouzbehan, about 95% of tea orchards in Iran are rain-fed.

Last year (March 2016-17), the government purchased more than 139,000 tons of fresh tea leaves, worth 2.34 trillion rials ($62 million) from farmers, from which 31,200 tons of dried tea were produced.