Page 55 - IRANRptSep22

9.1.2 Agricultural sector news
Drought expected to deal further blow to Iran’s pistachio crop
Iranian tea imports replacing western brands in Russia
The effects of drought mean Iran is expected to produce only 135,000 tonnes of pistachios in the current Persian year (ends March 20, 2023), according to Hossein Rezaei, secretary-general of the Iran Pistachio Association (IPA), as cited by the Tehran Times on August 29.
Drought was also labelled the culprit in the last Persian year, when pistachio production fell by 70,000 tonnes to around 150,000 tonnes.
Referred to as “green gold” in Iran, pistachio nuts have been cultivated in Iran for around two and a half millennia. Iran was the world’s unrivalled, leading producer of pistachios for a long time, with southeastern Kerman province, where around 70% of Iranian pistachios are grown, the hub of production. But in 2012, the US overtook Iran as the world’s leading producer and exporter of pistachios given production declines in Iran mainly caused by water shortages and a lack of access to modern agricultural technologies.
Over the past decade, climate change has brought severe drought to Iran, leading to 85% of the country being classified as arid or semi-arid. The shortage of surface water has forced farmers to dig more wells to pump water from underground reserves. According to the Tehran Times, nearly half of around 750,000 wells dug by Iranian farmers are illegal.
The government is encouraging water conservation by providing bank facilities to farmers to assist them in purchasing modern irrigation equipment. Concentrating on developing pistachio farms in regions with some of the better standards in soil and water resources, using modern cultivation methods and cultivating pistachio types with higher resistance to crop failure and disease are among moves pursued by officials as they seek to revive Iran’s pistachio farming.
Iran and the US together account for 70-80% percent of global pistachio production. Recent years have also seen Turkey, Australia and Spain join the pistachio export market.
Imports of Iranian tea are replacing foreign brands no longer found on the Russian market, according to a report published by Vechernyaya Moskva on August 21.
Tea brands including Lipton, Brooke Bond and Saito have officially departed Russia as part of the market consequences seen in relation to the late February Russian invasion of Ukraine. Inventory stocks of the products have started to dwindle. Alternative brands from countries including Iran and India are becoming increasingly common in Russian stores.
Iran and Russia actually have a long and conjoined history in tea consumption, with the beverage associated in both countries with the revered Samovar tea kettle
In 2021, given market disruption caused to the Iranians by US sanctions, Iran surpassed Russia as the biggest buyer of Indian tea. Iran imported 53.5mn kilograms of Indian tea in that year, marking a 74% increase from 2018.
Indian tea is reportedly increasingly making its way to Russia through the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that links Russia to India via Iran and the Indian Ocean.
In January, Sri Lanka said it had agreed to settle $251mn in oil import debts owed to Iran in tea. Former government minister Ramesh Pathirana said his country intended to dispatch $5mn worth of tea to Iran each month to clear the debt.
55 IRAN Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com