Olive production in Iran is expected to reach 90,000 tons in the current Iranian year (started March 21) and register a 5% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year, the manager of the so-called Olive Project, initiated by the Agriculture Ministry, said.
“Last year, about 65% of the olive yield were used to make conserves and olive oil was derived from the remaining 35%. We are trying to channel more olives into the olive oil industry,” Rahmatollah Parichehr was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
The official added that 5,000-7,000 tons of olive oil are produced in the country annually and almost the same amount is imported.
He put per capita olive oil consumption in Iran at 135 grams.
The Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2017-22) has set the target of 200,000 tpy in olive oil production.
Iran is ranked 14th in the world by the International Olive Council in terms of area under olive cultivation and 17th in terms of production, the Agriculture Ministry’s head of the Expansion and Improvement of Olive Orchards Group, Mahmoud Emami, told Financial Tribune last year.
Emami told us that the average global per capita olive oil consumption is at 430 grams—about three times more than in Iran.
However, Iranians eat more olive in brine as, according to Emami, per capita consumption in Iran stands at 850 grams against 360 grams in the world.
