Bountiful Apple Orchards, Sluggish Processing in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad

Yasuj – A harvest of 130,000 tons of apples is expected in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. Low purchase prices, a shortage of cold storage and a lack of processing industries are squeezing orchardists' incomes.

Ambassador Arjan of the Provinces Group: Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad apple orchards are on the verge of harvesting 130 thousand tons, a capacity that can be the basis for economic prosperity, job creation and increase of gardeners' income, but the producers' narrative of the sales market paints a different picture.

The gardeners of Kakan and Sisakht talk about selling apples at the price of 50 to 60 thousand Tomans in the garden, while according to them, the same product is offered in the consumer markets at multiple prices, a gap that has put pressure on the profit of horticulture, along with the costs of fertilizers, poisons, labor and transportation.

In the meantime, the lack of cold storage, the limited capacity of processing units and the uncertain market for industrial apples are the missing links of the production chain to income in the province, conditions that highlight the necessity of developing transformation industries to prevent product wastage, reduce raw sales, increase added value and create job opportunities in horticultural areas more than in the past.

fruitful gardens; The missing link in the path of production to income

Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad are important apple production areas in the south of the country, and the orchards of this province, especially in Boyer Ahmad, Dana and Margun cities, send a significant amount of this product to the market every year.

According to the officials of the province's agricultural jihad, it is expected that 130,000 tons of apples will be harvested from 6,700 hectares of orchards this year, a statistic that indicates the considerable capacity of the province in the field of horticulture, but high production alone cannot guarantee adequate income for farmers.

Part of the gardeners' problems show themselves right after the harvest, when the costs of a year's activity must be compensated from the place of sale of the product. In such a situation, access to the right market, the possibility of keeping the product and the presence of buyers according to the volume of production play a decisive role in the amount of gardener's income.

Not all harvested apples can be sold at the same price in the fresh food market. Part of the product is classified as an industrial apple due to its size, appearance, or quality characteristics. A product that, if there are suitable processing units, can be used as raw materials for the production of concentrate, juice, puree, and other food products.

Meanwhile, processing industries is not only a side industrial activity, but is considered a part of the economic chain of horticulture. The existence of processing factories can create a more specific market for industrial apples, reduce part of the costs of transporting the product outside the province, and create new job opportunities in the producing areas.

On the other hand, the limited processing capacity may force the gardener to immediately sell the product at a lower price. If the market for buying industrial apples is also limited, the delay in the sale and the lack of suitable storage facilities can increase the possibility of quality loss and increased waste.

In this way, the problem is not only harvesting 130 thousand tons of apples, but how to convert this amount of production into sustainable income for gardeners and added value for the economy of the province is important.

the distance between the price of the garden and the market; What is the gardener's share of apple sales?

Hossein Ahmadi, gardener of Kakan region, in an interview with Mehr reporter, referring to the selling price of his product, stated: Dealers buy each kilogram of our apples for 60,000 tomans, while the same product is sold in the fruit and vegetable market of Kazeroon and Shiraz at prices of around 160,000 to 180,000 tomans.

Referring to the lack of storage facilities in the region, this gardener added: There is not enough cold storage in Kakan, and if it was possible to store apples in the region, we could store our product and gradually bring it to the market.

Ahmadi considered the lack of transformation and processing industries as one of the other problems of gardeners and said: a major part of the produced apples cannot be sold in the fresh market and it is necessary to be used in transformation industries, but due to the lack of proper infrastructure, a significant part of this product is lost.

High production costs and unresponsive income

Mahmoud Rezaei, one of the gardeners of Sisakht, in an interview with Mehr reporter, referring to the conditions of selling apples, stated: Dealers buy our product at a very low price, about 50 to 60 thousand tomans per kilogram, and then sell it in the bar market at two to three times the price.

He stated that production costs have put a lot of pressure on gardeners in recent years, and added: The cost of fertilizer, spraying, garden maintenance and workers' wages are high, and the income from product sales is not proportional to these costs.

Criticizing the inattention to the producers' demands, this gardener clarified: "Our voices have not been heard for several years." The lack of conversion industries is one of the serious problems of gardeners and the facilities that are paid in this field, if they exist, do not meet our needs.

The statements of the gardeners of Kakan and Siskhet indicate a series of common problems, from the limited storage facilities and sales market to the high production costs and the lack of sufficient capacity for product processing.

In fact, when the gardener does not have the possibility to store and the market for buying industrial apples also has a limited capacity, his bargaining power in front of the buyers decreases. In such a situation, even an increase in the amount of production does not necessarily lead to an increase in income, and the sales pressure in the harvest season may destroy an important part of the producer's profit.

a fisherman Low price of industrial apples and lack of processing capacity

In an interview with Mehr reporter, the horticultural director of the Jihad Agricultural Organization, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, pointed out that 130,000 tons of apples are expected to be harvested from the orchards of the province this year, and said: This amount of produce is produced in 6,700 hectares of orchards in the cold regions of the province.

Niromand Sayadi added: More than 300,000 tons of fruits are produced in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad every year, and apple has the largest share among the garden products of the province.

Pointing to the dispersion of apple orchards, he stated: Boyer Ahmad, Dena and Margon cities have the largest share in the production of this product, that about 70% of the apple orchards in the province are equipped with modern irrigation systems, and the majority of produced apples are sold and consumed in the markets of Tehran and Isfahan.

The director of horticulture of Jihad Agricultural Organization of the province considered the low purchase price of industrial apples to be one of the most important concerns of gardeners and continued: Last year, each kilogram of industrial apples was sold for 170,000 Rials, this year, the price of each kilogram of this product has been announced at 130,000 Rials.

He also mentioned the high price of packaging baskets, the increase in the cost of transporting apples to markets in neighboring provinces, and the provision of wages for harvest workers as other concerns of gardeners during the harvest season.

Siyadi listed the non-proportion of the number of apple processing units with the amount of production and the low amount of guaranteed purchase as one of the most important complaints of gardeners in the province and reminded: this issue highlights the need to pay attention to the industrial apple market and processing infrastructure, along with the costs of harvesting and transporting the product.

There are 6 thousand hectares of fertile apple orchards in the province

In an interview with the Mehr reporter, the vice president for the improvement of plant production of the Organization of Agricultural Jihad, Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad, referring to the area of apple orchards in the province, said: in total, the area of these orchards is 6,700 hectares, of which 6,000 hectares are fertile and 700 hectares are infertile.

Referring to the production capacity of the province's apple orchards, Shahram Askari added that this year, on average, 23 to 24 tons of apples will be harvested from each hectare of fertile orchards and sent to the market.

Referring to the apple cultivars cultivated in the region, he said that Red and Golden cultivars are the most important cultivars produced in the orchards of the province.

Stating that the harvest of this product plays an important role in supplying the market and creating seasonal employment, Askari said: Proper utilization of the capacity of the province's apple orchards is very important in the fresh food sector and processing industries.

The absence of processing factories hinders the development of the apple value chain

In an interview with Mehr reporter, the head of Jihad Agriculture organization, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, said, referring to the production of apples in the province, the harvest of this product is expected from the area of 6,200 hectares of orchards, and the amount of production reaches about 130,000 tons.

Regarding the apple value chain development plans in the province, Reza Farazi considered the lack of processing factories as one of the obstacles to the favorable development of this chain and announced: third-grade industrial apples are transported outside the province.

Stating that about 20% of the apples produced in the province are consumed inside, he continued: Most of this product is sent to the target markets through intermediaries, and about 15% of the total apple production is also stored in cold stores.

The head of the Provincial Agricultural Jihad Organization about the construction of a 4,000-ton cold store in Kakan region also pointed out the importance of developing the infrastructure for storing garden products and said: This project is being implemented with the aim of managing the supply of products during the harvest season and reducing the pressure of immediate sales to gardeners.

The issue of cold store and processing plant, although they are in the same economic chain, they cover two different needs. The cold store gives the gardener the opportunity to store the product for a longer period of time and coordinate the sale time with the market conditions, on the other hand, the processing plant can turn industrial apples and products that cannot be properly supplied in the fresh market into salable products.

Therefore, the development of cold stores alone is not a substitute for transformation industries, and the establishment of processing units without providing raw materials, working capital and a stable sales market cannot solve all the problems of the apple production chain.