Iran excels in horticulture, exporting $3 billion annually

Tehran: Horticulture products are important for the economic growth of a country. In this regard, Iran has taken a big stride towards the growth of this sector. Iran’s Deputy Agriculture Minister for Horticulture Affairs says horticulture plays a key role in the agriculture sector; it accounted for about 50 percent of the country’s annual agricultural exports, and Iran exports about $3.0 billion of such products every year.

As per Mohammad-Mehdi Boroumandi, Iran’s horticulture exports have reached three million metric tonnes and the nation’s products are being exported to more than 100 countries worldwide annually, IRIB reported. “There are about a million hectares of gardens in Iran, and we are able to yield nearly 26 million tonnes of horticultural products annually,” Boroumandi said.

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He further added that Iran has been producing horticulture products in large quantities, but the Middle East nation has not been able to grow four tropical fruits on a massive scale, such as banana, pineapple, coconut, and mango. However, these fruits are grown in the country, but the production is not enough to fulfill the domestic demand.

“We are among the countries in the world that use the least amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; the average consumption of pesticides per hectare in the world is more than 2.5 kilograms, or 2.5 liters per hectare, while we use less than one liter,” the official said.

Iran’s Mazandaran province, which is the center of citrus production, produces about three million metric tonnes of citrus fruits every year, including oranges and tangerines, and kiwis is also produced on a large scale in Mazandaran and Gilan provinces.” Therefore, Iran occupies fourth place in the world in kiwi production.