FAO: Iran Exporting Quality Honey to 22 Countries
TEHRAN–The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has reported that quality honey produced in Iran is exported to 22 countries, adding Iran ranked 3rd in the world in terms of honey production .
According to the statistics of FAO, Iran holds the third rank in the world in honey production terms.
Production of high-quality honey in Iran has helped the country to stand higher than other countries in the global ranking.
FAO pointed out that Iran produced 80,000 tons and 77,000 tons of high-quality honey in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Project Commissioner of Iran Beekeeping Development Plan Touraj Saremi in an interview with Fars news agency on Monday put the volume of honey produced in the country in the last Iranian calendar year of 1401 (ended March 20, 2023) at 136,000 tons.
Iran to Supply China With First Honey Shipment
Hhead of Iran’s beekeeping development plan Touraj Saremi says Iran will soon send a shipment of honey to China, which itself is the world’s top honey producer.
“This is a very good opportunity to strengthen the position of Iran’s honey in the world markets,” Saremi said.
The shipment will come in the wake of President Ebrahim Raisi’s landmark visit to China in February, which resulted in the signing of several agreements.
Normally, China makes about 500,000 tonnes of honey a year, or about a quarter of global output. It exports more than 100,000 tonnes to places like Europe and the United States. However, a coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent stringent measures to curb the virus have taken their toll on the country’s beekeepers.
Iran, he said, produced 136,000 tonnes of honey in 2022, but FAO has cited a much lower figure of 77,000 tonnes for the year.
Nevertheless, Iran’s honey production capacity is even higher due to its plant diversity and natural resources. There are 8000 plant species in Iran, which are three times more than those in the European continent.
Fars in the south and the northwestern provinces of East and West Azarbaijan, Ardabil and Kermanshah account for 65 percent of the country’s honey production.
Under a development plan provided by the Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, beekeepers are about to raise average honey production in each colony to 4 kg from 3 kg now.
The most important export destinations for the Iranian honey are China, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Germany, England, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, and Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq, and Lebanon.