Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 6
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's olive output has decreased by 30 percent during the current fiscal year which started on March 21, Ahmad Bolandnazar, the head of the National Olive Council said, Iran's Mehr news agency reported Nov. 5.
Output has dropped by 40 percent in some provinces and even up to 60 percent in some other ones, Bolandnazar said, adding the drop down has imposed serious loses to the olive farmers.
Almost 70,000 metric tons of olives were produced in the country during the current year, he said.
It is while the olive output stood at 100,000 metric tons in the previous year, Bolandnazar added.
About 20,000 metric tons of this year's olive production has been used to extract the oil, and the remaining amount used for canning, he said.
Bolandnazar also called on the government and the parliament to provide financial support for the olive farmers.
Iran is amongst the world's olive rich countries. Olives above five grams are used for canning and olives below three grams for extracting oil.
Olives between three to five grams are used in both cases. Since olives from the south of Iran yield less oil compared to those cultivated in the north, the majority of the product will be canned.
In addition, olives from the northern regions are usually processed into oil since the factories are located in the north.
The main producers of olive in the world are Spain, Italy, Greece, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco.
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