These date orchards are in the town of Farashband in Iran's Fars province, 180 km from Shiraz. Farashband has countless date orchards, large and small. Its Zahedi dates are the most prized and are exported to various countries.

There are 3,500 hectares of land under Zahedi date orchards alone. The harvest begins at the end of September and runs for two months. Farashband produces 8 tonnes of dates per hectare a year. The dates are considered one of Fars province's main cash crops.

Another type of date, called Kabkab, is also grown here. It is in demand in Iran and is also exported abroad.

In addition, Iran's Bushehr province produces 110,000 tonnes of dates a year from six million date palms.

Rashid Riaz, citing Iran Press.

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.