Iran should prioritize finding new export markets for pistachios: MP
By Sadeq Dehqan & Reza Abesh Ahmadlou
Staff writers
In order to increase Iran’s pistachio exports and help the country to earn more forex through exports, the Iranian government should prioritize finding new export markets, an Iranian lawmaker told Iran Daily.
Calling it green gold, Shahbaz Hassanpour Beyglari said pistachios have always been one of the most valuable export products of Iran, which has fetched lots of forex for the country, but Iran has not had a detailed plan for boosting exports of the product.
According to figures by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), 57% of the total value of Iran’s agricultural exports, and 11% of the total value of non-oil exports in the first six months of the current Iranian year (started March 21) have been pistachio exports.
The country exported 20,000 tons of pistachios, worth $137 million, during March 21-September 22, 2023, the IRICA statistics indicated.
Russia imported $28 million worth of pistachios during the six months as Germany ($13.1 million), the UAE ($13 million), India ($12.8 million) and Kyrgyzstan ($12.5 million) were other main importers of the products from Iran.
Pointing out that Kerman Province is the hub of pistachio production in Iran, the MP said, Sirjan and Rafsanjan are the main pistachio-producing cities of the southeastern province.
Referring to measures taken in Kerman Province to increase pistachio production, he explained that among the measures was the improvement of irrigation efficiency with modern irrigation methods including pressure irrigation and subsurface drip irrigation, which lead to an increased productivity of trees.
Subsurface drip irrigation is a highly efficient system that uses buried drip tubes or drip tape to meet crop water needs. Since the water is applied below the soil surface (as opposed to surface irrigation or traditional drip irrigation), the effects of surface infiltration, such as crusting, saturated condition of ponding water, and water losses via evaporation and surface runoff (including soil erosion) are eliminated.
“The increase in pistachio production in Kerman Province during recent years is not due to the increase of the cultivated area of this product, but rather the rise in the amount of harvest per unit area has increased the volume of pistachio production.”
“The formation of pistachio headquarters composed of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs should be prioritized, with a focus on the export of pistachios,” the MP said.
Criticizing some measures of the Central Bank of Iran, he pointed out that some of these actions have been an obstacle in the field of export development.
Ponting to policies on forex deposits of farmers, the CBI has created problems for exports of agro-products, which we hope the bank will reconsider.
In many countries, in order to increase exports, their governments consider incentives for exporters, but some of our measures not only do not encourage exporters to export, but cause them to stop exporting, the lawmaker said.