According to Akbar Fathi, the head of East Azarbaijan Agricultural Jihad Organization, the province holds a 4.5% share in the country’s total agricultural exports, IRNA reported.
East Azarbaijan’s agro exports during the ninth Iranian month (Nov. 21-Dec. 21) stood at $32 million, indicating a 42% rise compared with last year’s similar month, Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.
According to Fathi, agricultural exports have a 13% share in East Azarbaijan’s total non-oil exports.
Major agricultural products exported from the province include raisins, dairy products, day-old chicken, tomato paste, apple juice, onion, cucumber, lettuce and cabbage.
Fathi noted that exports of greenhouse tomatoes, mushrooms and ornamental plants witnessed a year-on-year rise during the nine months under review.
East Azarbaijan Province is home to about 1.2 million hectares of agricultural farms.
The province produces about 5 million tons of crops annually. Its agriculture sector has a 12% share in Iran’s gross domestic product, a 20% share in employment and an 80% stake in meeting food demand.
The province is home to 1.22 million hectares of agro farms.
A total of 2 million tons of goods worth $2.38 billion were exported from East Azarbaijan Province during the same nine-month period under review, to register a 30% and 100% growth in weight and value respectively year-on-year.
According to East Azarbaijan’s Customs Superintendent Leili Orangi, cast iron, steel, mineral fuels, distillate products, plastic materials, fruits, copper and copper products, glass and glass products, machinery and mechanical components and parts, cereal and cocoa are the main commodities exported from the northwestern Iranian province, Fars News Agency reported.
Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bulgaria and Italy were the main export destinations.