BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 3
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend
About 133 tons of tea leaves have been purchased from farmers in Iran since April 29, Chairman of Iran Tea Organization Habib Jahansaz said, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad.
According to Jahansaz, the value of the purchased tea leaves was 6.15 billion rials (about $146,000).
Jahansaz added that 75 percent of the tea leaves purchased from farmers are paid by tea factories and 25 percent by the government.
The official said that more than 135,000 tons of tea leaves were expected to be harvested from tea plantations in northern Iran in the current Iranian year (starting March 20, 2020).
The price of first-class tea leaves is 46,000 rials (about $1.09), and the cost of second-class tea leaves is 33,000 rials (about 78 cents) this year.
As much as 126,700 tons of tea leaves worth 3.42 trillion rials (about $81.5 million) were purchased from farmers in Iran's Gilan and Mazandaran provinces last Iranian year.
In Iran, some products such as rice, sugar beet, wheat and tea are purchased from farmers by a state-owned company under a guarantee and paid for in installments.