TEHRAN - Tea production in Iran has risen 25 percent in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), Head of Iran's Tea Organization (ITO) Habib Jahansaz told IRIB.

“The 25-percent increase in tea production in the country indicates that the market has the capacity to boost production and shows an increase in the general popularity of Iranian tea,” Jahansaz said.

The official noted that so far 114,445 tons of tea leaves worth 6.5 trillion rials (about $154.7 million) have been purchased from the country’s tea farmers, 51 percent of which has been high quality first grade product.

According to Jahansaz, the government has so far settled 75 percent of its dues to the tea farmers.

This year, 25,750 tons of dry tea has been produced, which is  25 percent more than the figure for the same period last year, he stressed, adding that this growth is due to the increase in the general popularity of local tea that has motivated tea farmers to boost their output.

He put the country’s annual tea consumption at about 100,000 tons, of which 30,000 tons are supplied through domestic production and the rest through imports.

The demand in the domestic market indicates that there is a good potential to increase tea production in the country, he said.

The official further noted that Iran has also exported 3,800 tons of tea during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 22).

Tea harvest season starts in farmlands across the northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran in early May.

More than 55,000 families grow tea over 28,000 hectares of farmland in the two provinces, accounting for 90 percent of the country’s total tea production.

In late December 2019, Jahansaz named Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Afghanistan as the top destinations for Iranian tea exports.

Iran also exports tea to India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Canada, Australia, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Georgia.

EF/MA