Tehran, Feb 16, IRNA � Head of Iran Pistachio Association Mohsen Jalalpour predicted that his year's pistachio export will gain $1.5 billion for the country.
�Speaking to IRNA, he said the Iranian pistachio possesses top quality and presently Iran stands in the second place in the world in terms of production and in first place in terms of export.


According to statistics available, he said, the US with 200 thousand hectares under cultivation and over 260 thousand tons of production is the first pistachio producer in the world a major part of which is domestically consumed.

The official also noted that in the current year about 200 thousand tons of the pistachio produced were harvested which shows an increase of 20% over the last year, thus increasing exports by 20% as well.

However, he added, last year about 170 thousand tons of pistachio was produced and major part of it was exported.

He also predicted less than 200 thousand tons of pistachio for the next year due to lower production as a result of constant draught, water shortage, increase in temperature, and dryness of the pistachio kernel.

Jalalpour termed pistachio as a hard currency bringing product and noted that continuation of limited water resources can put production of this product at stake.

He introduced Kerman, Yazd, Markazi, Qazvin and Semnan as pistachio producing provinces in the country and said Kerman is the main pole of producing pistachio and except for southern and northern borders everywhere in this land pistachio can be produced provided that water resources are maintained.

The official said although the US ranked first in terms of pistachio production in the world, the Iranian pistachio has its high quality and specific features in the world.

By IRNA