Agrofood international expo opens in Tehran

TEHRAN - The 20th International Food, Food Technology and & Agriculture Exhibition (Agrofood) of Iran opened on Monday at the Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds. 97 Iranian companies and 676 foreign companies from 19 countries, including Spain, Austria, Britain, Germany, Turkey, Denmark, Finland, Russia, France, India, and China have attended the exhibition which will run till Friday. In October 2012, ISNA reported that Iran ranked first in the Middle East and 9th in the world in fruit production, with an annual harvest of about 20 million tons, according to the Agriculture Jihad Ministry. The products were exported to 100 countries, bringing in over $2.87 billion in income. Iran's agricultural exports grew last year, with pistachio and saffron sales almost doubling, despite Western sanctions on trade with the country, the Fars News Agency quoted Iran's deputy agriculture minister Jahangir Pourhemmat as saying. "Export of farming products has increased 15 percent compared to the previous year, while the agricultural exports are still on the increase on a daily basis," Pourhemmat added. Iran needs to work on the packaging in order to boost its fruits exports, officials say.