Zahra Jalili-Moqaddam, the director-general of the ministry’s tropical and subtropical fruits office, added that Iran’s annual production of common fig stands at 104,000 tons, which is harvested from an area measuring 59,000 hectares, IRNA reported.

Stressing that to retain export markets, satisfying customers’ tastes and demands are of great importance, she said, adding, if Iranian exporters manage to gain a greater international reputation and have sufficient knowledge and information about their products and target markets, they would be able to increase their overseas sales by, for instance, improving the quality of their crop and its packaging.

Jalili-Moqaddam noted that of the total 59,000 hectares of land under fig cultivation in Iran, dryland farming is the dominant method used by farmers and gardeners in almost 40,000 hectares.

She said the southern province of Fars is Iran’s most important producer of dried figs and the country’s main exporter of the common fig.

Iran called for plans to improve the quality of exports according to international standards in order to expand the country’s overseas exported fig.