TEHRAN, Iran, Sept.21
Trend:
Iran's olive oil production has declined by 25 percent in the current Iranian year (started March 21,2021) due to drought and climate change, said the head of Iranian Olive Council Mehdi Abbasi, Trend reports citing ILNA.
Abbasi has indicated that the country had profitable olive oil production in 2018 and 2019 but the predicted production for 2020 and 2021 was lower due to lack of proper supervision on import of olive oil alongside drought.
"The issue of supervision on import has led to import and sale of olive pomace oil as virgin oil or sale of other counterfeit and fake oils in the country," he explained.
He noted the importance of investment in olive oil production, saying the Iranian Olive Council emphasizes on preventing import of olive oil since it would create serious problems for processing industries and olive farming.
Iran is estimated to have produced a record 9,000 tons of olive oil during the 2018/19 harvest year, according to figures from the International Olive Council (IOC).