TEHRAN- Iran exported 13,600 tons of fig valued at $47 million during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), according to the director-general of the tropical and subtropical fruits office of Agriculture Ministry.

Zahra Jalili-Moqadam also put the annual fig production at 104,000 tons, IRIB reported.

Fars province is the major producer of dried fig in Iran and therefore the main supplier of exported fig in the country, the official further said.

She went on to say that planning for elevating the quality of the fruit based on the international standards will result in boosting its exports, and noted that improving the fig gardens is one of the plans of Agriculture Ministry in the current year, which is the year of “Surge in Production”.

Iran exported over $5.8 billion worth of agricultural and foodstuff products in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), Head of Agriculture Ministry’s Planning and Economic Affairs Department Shahrokh Shajari has said.

According to the official, about 7.104 million tons of such products worth $5.821 billion were exported to foreign destinations last year.

In the mentioned period, over 6.941 million tons of agricultural and foodstuff products worth $6.392 billion were also imported into the country, according to Shajari.

Watermelons, apples, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and shallots were the top five exported products in the previous year in terms of weight, while in terms of value, pistachios, apples, tomatoes, pistachio kernels, and watermelons were the five major exported products.

Shajari further pointed to the major imported items in terms of weight, saying: corn, barley, soybean meal, soybean, and untreated sugar were the top five imported items, while in terms of value livestock corn, rice, barley, and soybeans were the top imported products.

MA/MA