Iran, second-biggest date producer in world
Iran is the second biggest producer of dates in the world, announced the chairman of the National Date Association of Iran on Monday.
Export of Iranian dates has the capacity to fetch $1 billion to the country’s per annum, Mohsen Rashid-Farrokhi said, IRNA reported.
According to the official, exports of dates added $400 million to Iran’s foreign exchange in the previous Iranian year (ended on March 20).
Last year, 1.3 million tons of dates were produced in Iran, the official underlined, adding that annually between 20–30 percent of the produce is exported.
He mentioned the United States and China as the two biggest importers of the Iranian dates.
According to Farrokhi, date production has created 1.5 million direct and four million indirect job opportunities in Iran.