Iran Gov’t Local Tea Leaf  Purchases Exceed $20m

The government has purchased 81,000 tons of fresh tea leaves worth 6.92 trillion rials ($21 million) from local farmers since the beginning of the current fiscal year on March 21. 
The figure shows a 15% decline in weight compared with the corresponding period of last year, the head of Iran Tea Syndicate said last week. 
"Around 66% of the purchased tea leaves were of top quality,” Sadeq Hassani was quoted as saying by Young Journalists Club.
Every year, the government buys strategic crops, including tea, wheat, sugarbeet, barley, cotton boll and oilseeds, from local farmers at guaranteed prices to control prices in the domestic market and fill its strategic reserves.