Some 17,000 tons of dates were exported from Bushehr province over the past eight and half months, up by 34 percent compared to the figure for the corresponding period of last year, Deputy Head of the provincial Department of Industry, Mines and Trade Abulqassem Mohammadzadeh said on Monday said, adding that of the figure, 10.5 tons which are from the harvests of this year are being exported from August 21 until now.

“Russia, India, the UAE, Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Northern Iraq were among the export destinations for the product,” he said.

Mohammadzadeh further noted that the Second Specialized Festival and Exhibition of Dates and Relevant Industries will be held in Bushehr on November 12-15.

Bushehr province which produced 170,000 tons of dates annually ranks third in Iran’s Date exports.

Early in February, Advisor to Iranian Agriculture Minister Eskandar Zand said that the amount of Date production has experienced an 18% growth in the world and a 21% increase in Iran over the past 10 years.