The area of pistachio orchards in the country is 446 thousand hectares
Engineer Hossein Yousefi – Deputy Minister of Horticulture of the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture – in this meeting, referring to the importance of horticultural activities in the climatic conditions of Iran said: According to the statistics of 1383 out of 14 million and 920 thousand hectares of agricultural land, 16.8% of which is equivalent to two Allocated 1,510 million hectares for horticultural products.
Regarding the export valuation of horticultural products, he added: In this sector, more than 580,000 tons of horticultural products have been exported, which has resulted in a valuation of about 1.2 billion dollars.
Deputy Minister of Horticulture, Minister of Jihad for Agriculture, referring to the 20% value added and 30% share of the horticulture sector in employment, continued: Iran in the production of pistachios, dates, saffron, apricots, cherries, citrus, kiwi, figs, grapes and tea first to tenth place Has the world.
He further said: Among these, pistachio has a special and privileged position so that the approximate area of pistachio cultivation has increased from 60,000 hectares in 1975 to 446,000 hectares in 2005.
According to him, Iran ranks first in pistachio production with about 67% of the world’s fertile orchards.
Yousefi reminded: the export value of pistachios is equal to 69% of horticultural products, 50% of agricultural products and more than 10% of non-oil products of the country.
He stated that the first and most important principle of total quality management is to give importance to the customer, adding: Customer opinion is a determining factor and quality indicator.
He added: The International Food Code Commission, as the only international body, is responsible for developing and improving food standards, which is recognized by the World Trade Organization and Iran is one of its active members.
He also stressed: One of the most important principles in the field of food imports to countries is that they are healthy for consumption, which has led governments to establish health tariffs for the import of healthy food.
Yousefi pointed to Iran’s commitment to providing healthy, hygienic and safe products in the field of global trade and noted: Implementing agricultural operations in the garden and following the technical advice of experts can lead to the production of safe products.
He stated: Currently, there are 10 technical committees of the Food Code in the Ministry of Jihad for Agriculture, including the committees related to the Deputy Minister of Horticulture, the Technical Committee for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, and the Remaining Committee for Pesticides and Pesticides.
Expressing the importance of the GAP principle and the HACCP system (tracking and control of critical points of pistachios), he considered their implementation as important factors in raising Iran’s position in the world markets of horticultural and food products.
He pointed to the more precise and sensitive world health regulations and the need to increase the health quality of horticultural products and stressed: increasing yield per unit area, increasing the productivity of production factors due to limited water resources, the existence of abundant potential land in the country These lands, high production waste and the importance of reducing the percentage of waste are among the important activities that should be considered by the country’s officials and gardeners.