Kurdistan ranks sixth in walnut production in Iran
The head of the Jihad Agriculture Organization of Kurdistan Province, said: Kurdistan Province, with 7,334 hectares of walnut orchards and an annual production of 15,000 tons of products with about 11,000 farmers, is the sixth largest producer of walnuts in the country.
Khaled Jafari in the first provincial walnut festival in Sarvabad city, pointing out that Iranian walnut is the fourth major horticultural product in Iran and after pistachio is the second dried fruit product, said: Walnut is of great economic importance, especially non-oil exports. .
He added: 2.5% of the total orchards in Iran are dedicated to walnut trees and the area under cultivation of walnut trees in Iran is about 160,000 hectares with a production of 222,000 tons.
The head of the Jihad Agricultural Organization of Kurdistan Province, noting that the production of walnuts in Kurdistan is of special importance, said: In addition to the amount of domestic consumption in the province, the amount of exports of this product in the first six months of this year is 1,172 kg worth 360 million rials and Last year, 1,387 kilograms were worth 580 million rials.
Jafari stated: The average yield of walnut orchards in the province is 2.5 tons per hectare, which with the implementation of the walnut orchards branch project, in addition to increasing the quality of the crop, the yield will double and increase to 5 tons.
He informed about the importance of changing the canopy of walnut trees in old orchards by using the pruning technique in the province and said: Every year in the province due to late spring frosts and temperature fluctuations in the early growing season of orchards, witness frost damage to various species. We are garden species, especially walnuts, so that production fluctuations during different years indicate the intensity and importance of this issue. To reduce these risks, branching is one of the appropriate solutions in this case.
The head of the Jihad Agricultural Organization of Kurdistan Province, mentioned: In some years, including 1997, we saw a decline in yield and production for a specific reason, the production of the province was about 12 thousand tons, while according to the average provincial production yield It is not desirable, so by promoting and developing late-growing cultivars, which is the beginning of the foliar season and the growth of these cultivars is later than different provincial genotypes, we can solve the issue of late-spring cold damage in the province.
Jafari stated: Kurdistan province, with 7,334 hectares of walnut orchards and an annual production of 15,000 tons of products with about 11,000 farmers, is the sixth largest producer of walnuts in the country.
He added: Kamyaran city with a 10% share of production of this product is ranked fourth in walnut production.
Jafari added: The mentioned cultivars have other characteristic features such as white kernel, thin skin, coarse and uniform, all of which will be effective in improving and increasing the price and ultimately the income of walnut growers, currently about 80 to 100 hectares per year. Walnut orchards are branching out, with Baneh and Sarvabad leading the way.
Referring to the estimated rial cost of branching walnut orchards based on hectares and cuttings, he noted that the cost of one hectare of walnut orchards was about 112 million rials, which including 160 trees, the branching cost of each cut is about 700,000 rials, and the branches were pruned later. They will be economically operational in 3 years.
Jafari reminded: Comparing the export value of walnuts in world markets in comparison with a barrel of oil, considering that the price of a barrel of crude oil is about $ 56 and the price of each dollar is 12,300 Tomans, the cost price of a barrel of oil in The world market is estimated at about 690 thousand tomans, while if we consider the price of each kilogram of first-class walnuts as 60 thousand tomans, each 11.5 kilograms of walnuts will be equivalent to one barrel of oil, in other words, 4.9 kilograms of walnuts per kilogram. The dollar will have economic value.