Azerbaijan, Baku , Oct.20/ Trend F.Milad/
Pistachio harvest in Iran's Kerman Province is threatened by low annual rainfall this year, IRNA quoted head of the association of Iranian pistachio farmers, Mohsen Jalalipour, stated.
Some 8-10 thousand hectares area of pistachio farms in Kerman is devastated each year due to the shortage of water and the use of inefficient traditional methods of agriculture, he added.
Kerman Province accounts for 280,000 hectares area of pistachio farmlands of the total 400,000 hectares area nationwide, he noted.
On October 8, Jalalipour told IRNA that Iran is expected to earn $1.1 billion in pistachio exports this calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013.
"Some 200,000 tons of pistachio is anticipated to be harvested in the current year, of which 120,000 tons will be exported," he said.
The last year's output amounted to 160,000 tons, he said, adding that 15 percent of the output is supplied to the domestic market.
Last year, 100,000 tons of pistachio was exported, he noted.