Iranian government has set its guaranteed purchase price for tea at 66,900 rials ($0.3) for top-quality tea leaves and 47,810 rials ($0.2) for other varieties in this year’s harvest, both showing a 45% increase compared with last year’s prices, according to the head of Iran Tea Organization.
“Harvest began on April 21 and purchases on the 24th. Farmers are pleased with the prices announced by the government this year, just as they were last year. Moreover, 160 tea factories are ready to purchase farmers’ yields. These factories can make purchases at higher prices based on quality,” Habibollah Jahansaz was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Every year, the government buys strategic crops, including tea as well as wheat, sugarbeet, barley, cotton boll and oilseeds, from local farmers at guaranteed prices to control prices in the domestic market and fill its strategic reserves.
The official added that at present, local tea production meets 30% of domestic demand.
“More than 55,000 farmers earn their living through tea cultivation in Iran’s northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran,” he said.
Tea is considered a strategic product of these provinces, as it has a significant effect on the rural and agricultural economy of the region.
A total of 133,000 tons of fresh tea leaves were harvested in Iran during the last fiscal year (March 2020-21), registering close to a 5% increase compared with that of the year before.
"A total of 30,000 tons of processed tea were derived from last year’s yields,” Jahansaz was quoted as saying by ILNA.
The harvest, he added, was worth 5.13 trillion rials ($22 million).
The official noted that production has grown because of favorable weather conditions, government support in granting cheap loans and rising guaranteed purchase prices.
Iran's Tea Organization puts domestic tea demand at 120,000 tons per year. Iran consumes about 5% of the total annual world tea production.
The crop undergoes three harvests a year: the spring harvest starts in late April, the second in summer begins early June and the last one in autumn starts late September.
Iran mainly imports tea from India and Sir Lanka. Turkey, Germany, China, Japan, Vietnam, Kenya and Poland are other exporters of the product to the country.
Iranian tea is also exported and its main destinations are India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Canada, Australia, Spain, the Czech Republic and Georgia.