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Iran's Pistachio Farms Are Dying of Thirst

(AFP) Eric Randolph - Pistachio trees in Sirjan in southern Iran are long dead, the underground water reserves sucked dry by decades of over-farming and waste. Pistachios are Iran's biggest export after oil, with 250,000 tons produced last year. Some of Hassan Ali Firouzabadi's pistachio trees in Izadabad date from the 17th century. "The well was six to 10 meters (deep) when I was a child, but now it's 150, and the water is bitter and salty," he says. Kerman province is losing about 49,400 acres of pistachio farms every year to desertification.
2016-09-06 00:00:00
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