Financial Tribune- The northern Mazandaran Province has stocked 30,000 tons of citrus fruit for the upcoming Norouz (Iranian New Year) holidays (starting March 21, 2018).

More than 110,000 hectares of land go under the cultivation of citrus fruit in Mazandaran, which meet nearly 50% of domestic demand. Around 2.5 million tons are harvested there annually, IRNA reported.

According to Hassan Kheyrian, an official with Mazandaran Governorate, 70% of the oranges and 93% of the tangerines produced in the province have been harvested in this crop year.

“Some 471,000 tons of agricultural products worth $262 million were exported from the province during the nine months to Dec. 21,” Kheyrian added.

Kiwi exports alone earned $30 million during the period.

According to director general of Mazandaran Customs Administration, Abolqasem Yousefinejad, kiwi exports have a 10% share in the province’s non-oil exports.

Mazandaran is home to 460,000 hectares of farmland that produce around 6 million tons of agro products annually. Over 10% of value-added in Iran’s agriculture sector is generated in Mazandaran Province.