Director General of Greenhouses, Medicinal Plants and Edible Mushrooms Office with the Ministry of Agriculture Gholamreza Taqavi expects Iran’s mushroom production to reach 150,000 tons this year (ending March 20).
He also told ILNA that the area under mushroom cultivation would grow by 10 hectares this year compared to last year, noting that 7 hectares have already been added so far.
In an interview with Financial Tribune in December, Taqavi said a total of 700 hectares are under mushroom cultivation in Iran. He put Iran’s edible mushroom production last year (March 2016-17) at 138,000 tons worth around 10 trillion rials (about $220 million).
In Iran, 20 kilograms of mushrooms are harvested per square meter. The provinces of Tehran, Alborz and Isfahan are the top edible mushroom producers in the country.
“Per capita mushroom consumption is 1 kilogram in Iran and plans have been made to increase the figure to over 1.5 kg by 2022,” Taqavi said.
The global average consumption stands at 2 kg and 4 kg in Europe.
Iran exported 975 tons of edible mushrooms during the eight months to November 21, 2017, mainly to Iraq and Russia, the latest statistics show.
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