TEHRAN, Jun. 30 (MNA) – A deputy-minister of agriculture has said Iran has the first rank in production of rosewater.Mitra Majdzadeh, head of Ministry of Agriculture’s Greenhouse, Medicinal Plants and Mushroom Office told Mehr News the rose was first planted in Iran and found way to Europe through Damascus, and hence the name ‘Damascene Rose.’

“The flower is optimally grown in 2000-3000 altitudes from sea level; Isfahan, Kerman, Kermanshah, Fars, and East Azerbaijan are the main producer of rose nationwide; however, the flower grows all over the country,” Majdzadeh added.

“After Iran which ranks first with annual production of 26,000 tons of rose, Hungary, France, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Morocco are the next producers of the flower, with Syria and Afghanistan producing as well in small scales; Iran also ranks first in production of rosewater,” she said.

“In the financial year ending in March 21 2015, Iran produced 26,000 tons of rose in both irrigated and dry plantations; we predict that this figure will up 27,500 tons the current year; the flower is exported in dry leafs, dry buds, rosewater, and in small scale as rose essence,” Majdzadeh detailed.

“In the same period, rose was cultivated in 14,500 hectares of the land; the Ministry of Agriculture has provisioned the development of the rose in the Sixth Development Plant, where beginning 2016, 2,000 hectares will be added to rose plantations,” she told Mehr News about the possible rise in plantations. “Larger part of the plantations is dry farming; with drought and water shortage, we need to plant the flower in slopes to use the minimal amount of water for irrigation, and have developed species resistant to water shortage and perform better in dry farming.”

By Mehr News Agency