Apple Exports Top $760m in 9 Months

A total of 403,000 tons of apples worth $764 million were exported from Iran during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20, 2020), registering a 34% and 60% growth in weight and value respectively compared with the similar period of last year.
According to Zorrar Parmah, an Agriculture Ministry official, the main export destinations were Iraq with 200,000 tons (registering a 39% year-on-year increase), Russia with 97,000 tons (1,840% rise), Afghanistan with 42,000 tons (46% decline) and the UAE with 26,000 tons (18.18% rise), Mehr News Agency reported.
The official added that Iranian apples were exported to India, Kazakhstan, Oman, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Qatar. 
According to Darab Hassanian, another official with the Agriculture Ministry, West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Fars, Tehran, Isfahan, Khorasan Razavi and Ardabil are Iran’s main apple producing provinces.
More than 750,000 tons of apples were exported from Iran in the last Iranian year (March 2019-20), more than 504,000 tons (67.2%) of which were produced in West Azarbaijan Province.
“Iran’s apple production is estimated to reach 4.12 million tons in the current Iranian year (March 2020-21), marking a 3% increase compared with the previous year,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Parmah noted that Iran currently has 251,000 hectares of apple orchards, close to 230,000 hectares of which bear fruit.
According to Rasoul Jalili, the head of West Azarbaijan Agricultural Organization, 1.1 million tons of apples are expected to be produced in West Azarbaijan Province in the current Iranian year, 300,000 tons of which will be used in the food industry.