TEHRAN- As announced by an official with Iran’s Agriculture Ministry, the country exported 1,469 tons of honey in the past Iranian calendar year 1402 (ended on March 19).

Mohammad-Ebrahim Hassan-Nejad, the deputy minister for livestock products affairs, has also said that 155,000 people are working in the apiaries of the country, adding this number of people are working in 94,932 apiaries.

Based on the data released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Iran is the third-largest producer of honey in the world.

The chairman of the Animal Science Research Institute has said that the amount of honey production in the country should be increased by three to four kilograms per colony.

Mokhtar Mohajer said, “According to the Seventh National Development Plan (2022-2026), the amount of honey production should be increased by at least three to four kilograms per colony according to the diversity of plants and the area of pastures that we have in the country”.

He announced that 8,300 kilograms of royal jelly, 406 tons of pollen, 2,536 tons of beeswax, 247 tons of propolis, and 3,917 grams of bee venom are produced annually in the country.

MS