One Million Tonnes of Pomegranate is Annually Produced in the Country

Referring to Iran’s first rank in the world in production of pomegranate, the general director of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits Department of Ministry of Agriculture Jihad said, “One million tonnes of pomegranate is annually produced in Iran.”

The general director of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits Department of Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, Abolghasem Hassanpour, among the journalists being dispatched to Saveh said, “With the annual harvest of one million tonnes, Iran has the first place in the world in production of pomegranate.”

He stated that 69 thousand hectares of arable land are under cultivation of pomegranate, and added, “The performance of each hectare of pomegranate orchards is on average, 14 thousand 500 kilograms.”

“In production of pomegranate, India, China, Turkey and The US take the second to fifth places, respectively,” Hassanpour said.

The general director of Tropical and Subtropical Department of Ministry of Agriculture Jihad said, “One million tonnes of pomegranate is annually produced in Iran. However, it is estimated that more than one million tonnes is produced this year.”

“The export of pomegranate in 2015 has approximately been 13 thousand 500 tonnes,” Hassanpour added, “The price for a kilo of pomegranate has roughly been about 85 cents.”

He went on to say, “The most important orchard targets for the export of pomegranate are: Iraq, Russia, Turkmenistan, The UAE, Holland, Germany and Sweden.”

“pomegranate is cultivated in all the provinces apart from Hamedan, but the most important provinces in production of this fruit, are Fars, Markazi (the Central province) , Khorasan Razavi and Yazd.” Hassanpour further stated.

The general director of Tropical and Subtropical Department of Ministry of Agriculture Jihad said, “The most important pomegranate items being exported and which consist of more than 90 percent , are the following: acidulous (malas) pomegranate of Saveh, Robab Neiriz, Ghojagh Ghom, Ardestani Mah Valat and Bajastani.”

He concluded, “One of the main problems of pomegranate orchards is, frosting, and others are, the prevalence of pests and epidemy of serious diseases such as pomegranate neck worm, as well as physiological complications like sun burning, cracking and the whitening of the seeds which are among the threats to the production of this fruit.