Page 62 - IRANRptAug22

Drought takes toll on Iranian pistachio exports
Iran to build 45 dams by 2025 as worries mount water shortages could hit tens of millions
Farmers were losing the incentive to keep operating with such farm-gate prices, despite promises from officials that subsidies would buoy their working capital, Asadollahnejad was further reported as saying.
In early May, Iran was hit by unrest after the government cut subsidies for eggs, chicken, dairy products and cooking oil. The authorities mounted an aggressive crackdown. Several protesters are thought to have been killed, according to local human rights activists.
The rising price of grain on the global market and the severe depreciation of the Iranian currency have pushed up poultry production prices. Both small and big operations are said to be feeling the heat.
Mohammad Yousefi, spokesperson for the National Union of Broiler Farmers, has estimated that Iran produces nearly 2.3mn tonnes of broiler meat annually, but that there is a downward trend in production volume. “The Minister of Agriculture has given an ultimatum to the producers that if they shut down farms, they would have to pay heavy fines. These warnings are irrational. If the government wants farms to keep running, it will buy chicken for 60,000 tomans [$1.81] per kilogram and sell it to people for 20,000 [$0.60] tomans per kilogram,” Yousefi was quoted as saying.
Hamid Kashani, chairman of Homeland Poultry Farmers’ Union, was reported as observing that egg producers were now sending hens to slaughterhouses as domestic market wholesale egg prices were 50% below production costs.
Drought has taken a toll on Iran’s pistachio nut exports. Reporting shipments worth $914.4mn in the last Persian calendar year (ended March 20), down 33% y/y, the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) blamed water shortages that undermined cultivation and an increase in competition from other countries selling pistachios on to the international market, Mehr News Agency reported on April 26.
The US, with the introduction of modern agricultural technologies, is increasingly outdoing Iran in pistachio production. Nevertheless, Iranian pistachios remain cheaper than US consignments due to the low cost of labour and, overall, better growing conditions, in Iran.
In terms of export weight, Iran exported 135,322 tonnes of the nuts in the 2021/2022 Persian year to countries including China, India, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Turkey, IRICA was cited as saying. Of that total, 115,557 tonnes were unpeeled fresh pistachios, with a value of $696mn, it added. China was the biggest buyer of Iranian pistachios, buying $199mn worth. Next were India, Russia, Iraq and Kyrgyzstan, which imported $85mn, $53mn, $50mn and $45mn worth, respectively.
Officials in Iran, concerned that worsening droughts could eventually cause water shortages for tens of millions of people across the country, plan to build 45 dams by 2025, IRNA has reported.
The dams would reportedly expand the storage capacity of reservoirs in Iran by around 10bn cubic metres, taking the total capacity to more than 63bn cubic metres. The country of 84mn people has around 600 dams, including nearly 200 reservoirs.
The provinces of Hormuzgan on the Persian Gulf and Sistan and Baluchestan on the Sea of Oman are to host seven and five of the planned dams, respectively, the news service report said.
Iran’s Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian said last week that around 300 large towns and cities across Iran were facing water tension issues.
The minister added that the government would introduce grants and loans to encourage the establishment of efficient irrigation systems in the agricultural sector, responsible for more than 80% of water consumption in the country.
62 IRAN Country Report August 2022 www.intellinews.com