As part of efforts to strengthen relations and expand trade and technical cooperation between Tehran and Baghdad, a delegation of Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture visited Iran’s West Azerbaijan province.

 

Khosro Shahbazi, head of the West Azerbaijan Agricultural Organization, expressed his pleasure at the presence of the Iraqi delegation in Iran and said, “The geographical proximity between Iraq and West Azerbaijan provides an opportunity for establishing good trade and economic relations and facilitating the export of apples to that country.”

He added that West Azerbaijan province is the largest apple producer in the country with a production of 1.5 million tons, and in recent months 755,000 tons of apples have been exported from this province to target countries.

Shahbazi also referred to the high capacity of cold storage units in the province for storing apples and said, “Currently, 471 cold storage units are active in the province with a storage capacity of over 1,200 tons.”

He continued to refer to the apple sorting and packaging units in the province and said that 54 sorting and packaging units with a capacity of over 350 thousand tons are active in the province.

Shahbazi noted that the apples produced and stored in the cold storage units of the province have so far been exported to many countries including Iraq, India, Eurasia, Pakistan, Qatar, Libya, the UAE, and Oman.

During this visit, representatives and experts from the offices of cold and dry fruit affairs of the Deputy Ministry of Horticulture, International Affairs and Specialized Organizations, the Plant Protection Organization of the country and the head of the West Azerbaijan Agricultural Organization provided full explanations of the national and provincial capacities.  

The Iraqi delegation also visited Royan Pajoohesh Azerbaijan Company, which is one of the largest and most equipped knowledge-based centers in the field of producing various plants using tissue culture method in the country, and also visited apple orchards in the villages of Balanej and Tumatar in Urmia city.

The Iraqi delegation then visited four cold storage, sorting and packaging units equipped with the latest technologies in Urmia city and got acquainted with their technical and specialized capacities.