Some 2,000 tons of garlic are produced every year in Teymourlou, which is known as Iran’s garlic production hub, located in Gugan District, East Azarbaijan Province, according to the head of Agricultural Jihad Organization of Gugan.
“Close to 200 hectares of land are under garlic cultivation in the town. Unfortunately, there is a lack of proper marketing and there are no processing units in the town. Therefore, farmers have no choice but to sell the produce as raw material. This way, almost all the benefits go to the dealers and middlemen,” Yousef Sadeq Miran was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
The official stressed the need for economic players from the private sector to invest in processing and packaging industries in Teymourlou.
Head of Teymourlou City Council, Alireza Bashiri, said the trade volume of garlic in the local market stands at about 900 tons per day.
“Some 100 tons of garlic head to the north of the country every day to be processed and exported to Russia,” he said.
Unfortunately, the Iranian market is replete with low quality Chinese garlic, which threatens domestic production and has caused price fluctuations much to local farmers’ chagrin.
