Azerbaijan, Baku, Jul.14/ Trend F.Karimov/
Some 34,000 tons of agricultural products were exported from Iran's Mazandaran province, neighboring the Caspian Sea, in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, ISNA quoted Mazandaran agriculture department director Reza Azimi as saying.
The exports valued at $50 million, showing 50 percent rise compared to the same period in the past year, he added.
The Republic of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the UAE, and Afghanistan were the main destinations for the Iranian products.
In October 2012, ISNA reported that Iran ranked first in the Middle East and ninth in the world in fruit production with an annual harvest of about 20 million tons.
Products were exported to 100 countries bringing in over $2.87 billion in income.
Iraq and the United Arab Emirates were the major buyers of Iranian fruit. Citrus fruit, apples, grapes and peaches are the main fruits exported by Iran.
In January, the Fars News Agency quoted Iran's deputy agriculture Minister Jahangir Pourhemmat as saying that Iran's agricultural exports grew in the past Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20, with pistachio and saffron sales almost doubling, despite Western sanctions on trade with the country.
"Export of farming products has increased 15 per cent compared to the previous year, while agricultural exports are still on the increase on a daily basis," Pourhemmat added.
However, Iran needs to work on the packaging in order to boost its fruits exports, officials say.