Iran produces over 1.9 million tonnes of dates a year as processing capacity lags output

Iran produces more than 1.9 million tonnes of dates a year and ranks among the world's four largest producers of the crop, Karim Zolfaghari, head of the Center for the Development of Mechanization and Agricultural Industries at the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, said in comments carried by the news agency ILNA to mark National Date Day.

Zolfaghari said the future of the Iranian date industry depends on moving beyond the sale of unprocessed fruit and on completing the production chain, with processing and complementary industries serving as the link between growers and both domestic and international markets. He described dates as a strategic and export-oriented crop with significant potential for foreign currency earnings, employment and food industry development.

Licensed processing covers less than half the crop

According to ILNA, 654 date processing and complementary industry units currently hold operating licences from the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, with combined nominal capacity of more than 820,000 tonnes. That is equivalent to roughly 43 percent of national output, leaving the majority of the crop outside licensed industrial processing.

Zolfaghari listed the product range already derived from dates: date paste and date syrup, liquid sugar, chocolate and compound products, compote, fruit leather, vinegar and alcohol. The breadth of that list, he said, shows that dates are not merely a raw agricultural commodity but a feedstock for a wide span of industries.

Strengthening Iran's position in target markets requires higher quality, appropriate packaging, standardisation and products matched to the tastes and requirements of consumers in those markets, he said. He named four priorities for the sector:

• developing and completing export infrastructure;
• support for knowledge-based companies and start-ups;
• specialised industrial parks and export terminals in the main production hubs;
• rebuilding and modernising worn-out processing units.

Sistan-Baluchestan: 75,000 hectares and 350,000 tonnes

Sistan-Baluchestan has 75,000 hectares under date palms and annual output of 350,000 tonnes, Alireza Dahmardeh, head of the province's Agriculture Jihad Organisation, told Mehr News Agency. Around 35,000 people are directly employed in date production in the province. The palm groves are spread across the districts of Iranshahr, Saravan, Mehrestan, Sib-o-Suran, Sarbaz, Nikshahr, Qasr-e Qand, Fanuj and Delgan.

The harvest opens in mid-Khordad (early June) in Nikshahr and Qasr-e Qand with early varieties including Katoomi, Negal and Ashoobeh, and runs until early Aban (late October), ending with the late-maturing Makili variety in Saravan and Sib-o-Suran. More than 100 date varieties are grown in the province, with Mazafati on 31,000 hectares and Rabbi on 25,000 hectares accounting for the largest share of output.

Under the province's development document, 20,000 hectares of grade 2 and grade 3 orchards are to be developed, rehabilitated and replaced with commercial varieties, Dahmardeh said. Mother orchards have been established and a tissue-culture seedling production centre has been launched to support the renewal of the palm groves.

Existing downstream capacity in Sistan-Baluchestan comprises 95,000 tonnes of cold storage, packaging units with capacity of 60,000 tonnes and processing industries with capacity of 20,000 tonnes. Dahmardeh said the main priority in developing the date chain is expanding packaging units using new technologies and diversifying package formats for export, alongside processing capacity aimed at wider product variety and higher added value.

Village-level processing in Saravan

Iraj Rostamzehi, director of Agriculture Jihad in Saravan, told Mehr News that a local date processing and packaging plant takes in varieties including Peym, Mazu, Pepo and Zardan, removes the stones and converts the fruit into date paste. The plant also produces date cookies, date coffee and date chocolate, with the paste blended with ginger, cinnamon, syrup and a small quantity of liquid oil. About 30 people from the surrounding villages work at the site across processing, production and packaging.

East Azerbaijan processes what it does not grow

Fars News Agency reported that East Azerbaijan has become one of Iran's date hubs despite having no date palms and no orchard production of the fruit. More than 33 processing and packaging units operate in the province, placing it among the country's centres for the crop and underlining how far Iranian date volumes travel between harvest and final packaging.