Tehran, Iran, July 8
By A. Shirazi- Trend:
Some 72,000 tons of tea worth 154 billion rials have been purchased from Iranian farmers so far, registering a 3 percent decline compared with last year, the head of Iran Tea Organization said.
Habib Jahansaz blamed unfavorable weather conditions for the decline in production, saying that the loss will be compensated for in the second pick, Young Journalist Club reported on July 8.
He added that the government has paid 56 percent of the farmers’ money and the rest will be cleared soon.
From the total of fresh tea leaves harvested so far, 15,800 tons of dried tea have been manufactured, Jahansaz said.
He added that a total of 108,000 tons of fresh tea leaves were harvested last year from which 25 tons of dried tea were produced.
The head of Iran Tea Organization further said the recent developments in Iran’s foreign exchange markets have affect the export and import of tea.
In an effort to halt the slide, Iranian authorities announced in April they were unifying the dollar’s official and black market exchange rates at a single level of 42,000, and banning any trade at other rates under the threat of arrest.
Tea is cultivated in Iran’s northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran where 50,000 families earn their living from tea farming on more than 25,000 hectares of fields.
About 95 percent of tea orchards in Iran are rain-fed.