Palm tree is one of the oldest fruit trees in the world, and the main origin of this plant is not known. Some consider its origin in Asia and the Persian Gulf, some others consider its main habitat in North Africa and the subcontinent of India, or the Arabian Peninsula. The most creditable hypothesis, suggests its place of origin is south of Iraq (Mesopotamia) and southwest of Iran (Khuzestan). Archaeologists have announced the history of the construction of palm trees 5 to 7 thousand years ago.
Palm Situation in Iran:
Iran is one of the largest producers of dates in the world, which from the level of fertile cultivated lands, after Iraq, and from the quantity of date production, after Egypt, ranked 2nd in the world (based on FAO’s report in 2016). About 99% of the date produced in Iran belongs to the following provinces: Sistan va Baluchestan, southern Kerman, Fars, Kerman, Busher, and Khuzestan.
Crops cultivation, production and performance of Iranian dates in 2016
250137
Area under cultivation (hectare)
1163495
Production (ton)
5489
Average performance (kg/hectare)
Crops cultivation, production and performance of Iranian dates in 2016, for various provinces
Province
Area Under Cultivation (hectare)
Performance (kg/hectare)
Non-fertile
Fertile
Total
1
Isfahan
144
215
359
88
409
2
Ilam
205
84
289
182.4
2171
3
Busher
3301.5
30247
33548
150526
4977
4
Southern Kerman
2009
28715
30724
191542
6670
5
Southern Khorasan
555
1396
1951
5661
4055
6
Khuzestan
7250
27545
34795
147779
5365
7
Semnan
49
67
116
353
5269
8
Sistan va Baluchestan
13150
39685
52835
203651
5132
9
Fars
3983.4
27076
31059.4
162002
5983
10
Kermanshah
349
312.7
661.7
1719.9
5500
11
Kerman
3527
24200
27727
151398
6256
12
Kohgiloyeh va Boyerahmad
51.5
57
108.5
186.3
3268
13
Hormozgan
3130
30225
33355
139657
4621
14
Yazd
446
2163
2609
8749
4045
In total
38150
211987
Exports of country’s dates by types
Type
Wight (1000 tons)
Value(Million dollar)
$/kg
% (from total exported date)
Estaamaraan
7.5
6.9
0.9
Kabkab
9.7
0.7
3.8
Piyaram
2.3
6.7
2.9
Mazafati
85.2
113.2
1.3
33.6
Shahani
17.7
12.8
Zahedi
33.8
22.4
13.3
Other types
97.2
81.5
0.8
38.4
253.3
250.5
100