Iran exports over 46,000 tons of pistachios in 10
months 

Iran exported over 46,000 tons of pistachios in the first
ten months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2022-January 20,
2023), the chairman of Agriculture and Food Industries Committee of Iran
Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC), announced.

“Over 46,000 tons of pistachios was exported in the first
ten months,” Arsalan Qasemi said, according to Tehran Times.

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
so-called green gold.

Over the past decade, climate change has caused severe
drought in Iran, leading to 85 percent of the country being classified as arid
or semi-arid. The decline in annual average rainfall and shortage of surface
water has forced farmers to dig more wells to pump water from underground
reserves.

The situation is the same in Kerman province, which accounts
for 70 percent of Iran’s pistachio production. As announced by Hossein Rezaei,
the secretary-general of the Iran Pistachio Association (IPA), the production
of pistachio in Iran fell by 70,000 tons in the previous Iranian calendar year
(ended on March 20, 2022) to hover at around 150,000 tons.

Hossein Rezaei said that the current year's sprouts have
also been destroyed by climate change, and this year it is difficult to keep
the market, so government support is required.