TEHRAN – Iran’s deputy minister of agriculture Nabi Hadavand on Saturday said that over 250,000 ha of land area in the country is earmarked for the cultivation of apples, adding that between three to four million tons of fresh apples are picked in the country’s gardens annually.
Speaking on the sidelines of a visit by an Iraqi trade and administrative delegation to the sorting and packaging unit of fruits in a village in Urmia, northwest of Iran, Hadavand stated that West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan and Tehran are the major provinces in the country in terms of production of high-quality apples.
West Azarbaijan province is a pioneer in the field of apple production in the country, he noted. 
Iran is the main exporter of fresh apples to neighboring Iraq, he said, adding that the Ministry of Agriculture intends to develop and expand exports to Iraq and make Iraqis familiar with the other high capacities of the country in the agricultural sector.
Some 250,000 ha of agricultural land in the country are allocated for the cultivation of apples and between three to four million tons of fresh apples are produced in orchards of the country annually, Hadavand added.