TEHRAN- Iran has imported 173,062 tons of banana worth $113.68 million during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-July 21), the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

Ruhollah Latifi named Ecuador, India, Philippines, Turkey, Russia, Vietnam, and the UAE, as the main exporters of banana to Iran during the four-month period, Mehr news agency reported.

Zahra Jalili-Moqaddam, director-general of Agriculture Ministry’s Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Bureau, said an average of 450,000 tons of bananas are imported into Iran every year while domestic production of the fruit stands at around 120,000 tons per annum. 

According to the official, the domestic production capacity of bananas, as well as other tropical fruits, are higher than the current levels. 

“The Agriculture Ministry is prepared to grant incentives, bank facilities, and subsidies to help farmers produce these fruits,” she said.

As previously reported, Iran has imported 11.793 million tons of non-oil products worth $10.922 billion during the first four months of the current year.

The country’s top five sources of imports during this period were China with $2.806 billion, the UAE with $2.479 billion, Turkey with $1.178 billion, India with $757 million, and Germany with $493 million worth of imports.

China accounted for over 25 percent of Iran’s total imports, followed by UAE, Turkey, India, and Germany with 23 percent, 11 percent, seven percent, and five percent, respectively.

MA/MA