Iqbal desert dwellers to cultivate pistachios

Iqbal desert dwellers to cultivate pistachios

The end of summer is the time to start harvesting valuable pistachios. Farmers in desert areas in Khalilabad and Bardaskan counties have been harvesting for a year and are skinning by mechanized methods so that they can market pistachios in a suitable position.

With the decrease of fresh water in the marginal areas of the desert, most farmers abandoned their cultivated crop, which requires high water consumption, and began to cultivate pistachios, which is also compatible with the saline water extracted from the heart of the desert.

In Khalilabad and Bardaskan, more than 16,000 tons of pistachios are harvested every year, which is the second highest pistachio cultivation in Khorasan Razavi.

In the recent crop year, due to the increase in pistachio cultivation in this desert region, farmers have faced problems such as difficult water supply, fertilizers, pesticides and black markets for the production of pistachios.