Iran annual Pistachio exports fetch over $1b, official says

Iran exports over $1 billion worth of pistachios annually,
according to an official with the Agriculture Ministry.

“Over 500,000 hectares of the
country’s orchards are under pistachio cultivation,” Mohammad-Mehdi Boroumandi,
the country’s deputy agriculture minister for horticulture affairs, said on
Monday. 

Pistachio orchards, which account for 20% of Iran’s total
number of orchards, are mainly located in the provinces of Kerman, Khorasan
Razavi, South Khorasan, Yazd, Fars, Semnan, Markazi, Qom, Qazvin,
Sistan-Baluchestan, Tehran and Isfahan. 

He added, “Annually, over $1 billion worth of pistachios are
exported from Iran”. 

Although Iran is mostly known for its vast hydrocarbon
resources, there are some other precious products that people all around the
world put the Iranian brand on and appreciate greatly, one such product is
Iranian “green gold” or pistachio.

Cultivation of pistachios in Iran dates back to the
Achaemenid period or the fifth century B.C; Like the great dynasty, the Islamic
Republic was the world’s unrivaled, leading producer of pistachios for a long
time, with southeastern Kerman province being the hub of production for the
green gold.