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Friday, May 3, 2024 19:43 GMT
An Iranian Agricultural Jihad Ministry official said the country is expecting to earn more from the exports of subtropical fruits in the year to late March amid rising demand for such crops during the coronavirus pandemic. Zahra Jalili-Moghaddam said on Thursday that subtropical fruit exports had earned Iran nearly US$0.5 million in the last calendar year (ending March 2020), reported Press TV. Jalili-Moghaddam said, however, that the export volume has been increasing this calendar year as demand keeps surging for fruits rich in vitamin C, like citrus crops and pomegranate that many believe can lower the risk of infection to coronavirus. She said exports of subtropical fruits from Iran in the last calendar year had amounted to 612,000 tons.The official said tropical and subtropical fruits account for 38% of the entire fruit production in Iran with nearly 8.6 million tons harvested from 738,000 hectares of lands over the past calendar year. Jalili-Moghaddam said Iran is currently the world’s second largest producer of dates, adding that the country ranks third and fourth in the world in terms of pomegranate and kiwi fruit production, respectively.The southern province of Fars is the largest producer of subtropical fruits in Iran, with vast lands dedicated to rain-fed farming of various types of figs and pomegranates. Iran’s agriculture sector has experienced a strong growth in recent years as better yields and increased government support for exports have encouraged more activity across the sector. The government continues to rely on the sector as a main source of earning hard currency as normal crude oil sales have dropped due to US sanctions and lower global demand for fuels during the pandemic. - Iran Daily