35% increase in grape production in West Azerbaijan
Aziz Amani, director of horticulture at the West Azerbaijan Agricultural Jihad, said: It is expected that 275,000 tons of grapes will be harvested from the orchards of West Azerbaijan this year, which shows a 35% increase compared to last year.
He stated that more than 21,000 hectares of the province’s orchards are dedicated to grapes, adding: 5,000 hectares of the province’s vineyards are rain-fed and the rest are water, which is the main rain-fed orchards in Sardasht city.
The director of horticulture of Jihad Keshavarzi of the province, pointing out that the highest level of standing orchards in the country is in West Azerbaijan, continued: more than 8,000 hectares of orchards in the province are standing and the efficiency of grape production in these orchards is more than twice that of other vineyards.
Amani continued: Urmia city has the first rank in the area under grape cultivation in the province, he added: in addition to Urmia, the main grape product of the province is produced in Miandoab, Naqadeh, and Sardasht counties.
The director of horticulture of Jihad Keshavarzi of West Azerbaijan noted: Grapes are the second horticultural product of the province and more than 60,000 people were directly and indirectly involved in harvesting, packaging and transportation of grapes and thus earning a living. They do.
He said that annually about 90,000 tons of grapes produced in the province in the form of raisins and fresh grapes are exported to different countries of the world. He said: more than 70,000 tons of surplus of grapes exported from the province were purchased by conversion industries to produce various products. And 70,000 tons are used for preparing showers and fresh food.
Amani also pointed to the diversity of grapes in the province and said: Currently, more than 50 species of grapes, including raisins, Tabarzeh, Rish Baba, Hosseini, Askari, Khalili, Lal Bidaneh and Qizil Ozum, Maya Mo, Ghazan Daei, Jig Jigha, Ruby, Dizmari is produced in the gardens of the province.
Every year, the grape harvest in West Azerbaijan begins on September 6 and continues until the end of the first half of October.