BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. Iran is fully self-sufficient in cultivation of various fruits, such as walnut and almond, an official of the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture, Jihad Darioush Salempour said, Trend reports.
The official also mentioned that there are 165,000 hectares of walnut groves in Iran and on average, more than 290,000 tons of walnuts are produced annually.
He added that Iran exported 187 tons of walnuts worth $1.25 million were exported during the first 6 months of the current Iranian year (March 21 through September 22, 2023).
“In addition, there are 147,000 hectares of almond orchards in the country, and an average of 140,000 tons of almonds are harvested annually. In 6 months, Iran exported 1,130 tons of almonds worth $9.4 million," Salempour noted.
Also, he explained that Iran imports four types of fruits (pineapple, coconut, mango and banana), partially paying for them with funds and by exporting other types of fruits.
Salempour said the production of these imported fruits is at a minimum level in Iran, and for this reason, Iran is importing them. The funds obtained from the export of apples, citrus fruits and a number of dried fruits are partially used for the import of the mentioned imported fruits.
Iran imports an average of $650 million worth of bananas, $14.5 million worth of pineapples, $15.4 million worth of mangoes, and $10 million worth of coconut palms.
Meanwhile, 11.5 million tons of dried and tropical fruits are expected to be harvested in the country in the current year (March 21, 2023 through March 19, 2024).
On average, 130 million tons of agricultural products are produced in Iran annually.
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