Agriculture in Sine Province
Agriculture is of great significance in the economy of Iran and the East part of Kurdistan. It is considered to be one of the main areas of development in Sine Province and since there are large lands for agriculture in this province, satisfactory amounts of rainfall, suitable steepness of the lands, convenient amount of dampness and acceptable weather conditions, this province can become a developing post for agricultural crops.
The grapes crop in Sine Province
There are one million and 220 thousand hectares of farming land in Sine Province, 896 thousand and 235 hectares of which have wet farming and 121 thousand hectares of it belong to dry farming.
There are 17 thousand and 461 hectares of vine gardens, 12 hectares of which are cultivated in dry farming and 5461 hectares of it is cultivated in wet farming. More than 10 thousand hectares of these farmlands can harvest more than 8 tons of grapes per hectare annually.
Last year 141 thousand and 400 tons of grapes were cultivated in Sine Province vine lands which included 80 thousand tons of dry farming harvest and 400 tons of wet farming harvest. This makes Sine Province gain second place in cultivating grapes in Iran after Fars Province considering the agricultural area that can be used to cultivate dried farming grapes in Sine. This province is in 15th place for wet farming grapes production in Iran.
Marivan city cultivated 37% of grapes in Sine Province which makes this city the first city in this province to cultivate the most amount of grapes. Other towns or cities such as Sawlawa with 19%, and Baneh with 15% are in second and third place.
One of the most important features of grapes in Kurdistan is being organic. This product is rich in antioxidants which makes it not only a fresh snack but also a source of vitamins. In fact, this product does not need any kind of manure at all or in some cases, just a small amount of manure would be enough. On the other hand, the black kinds of grapes are mostly cultivated in dry farming which only uses rain for watering the vine trees; this makes grape harvesting economically suitable.
Leaving enough space between the vine trees, digging holes among them in a correct way, pruning the vine trees in autumn and spring, and applying the scientific comments of agriculture experts have increased by product cultivation per hectare.
The kinds of grapes being cultivated in Kurdistan include Thompson seedless grapes, Chenin blanc, pinot gris, Grenache, and …
What are the products made from grapes?
Grapes can be consumed as fresh fruits but they also can be made into juice, raisins, and grapes seed oil_ which is one of the most valuable products both economically and nutritiously_ vinegar and Doshaw (a kind of syrup). This makes grapes to be considered very important in the economy of Kurdistan.
The benefits of black grapes of Kurdistan for the tradesmen
Since there are no industrial workshops and markets in Sine Province, the grapes that are cultivated in this area cannot be sold in the local markets. On the other hand, since it costs a large amount of money, it is not easy to transfer this product to the neighboring provinces’ workshops, thus the products would be sold to tradesmen which makes it a low-profit product for the gardeners but the tradesmen profit the most.
Developing export markets for agricultural products, improving the exporting competition situation for the international markets, enhancing the quality and quantity of the products, exporting them, and establishing new brands in this field can play a great role in developing agriculture and the citizens’ welfare in Sine Province.
However, most of the time the fact that agriculture is one of the most significant parts in developing the economic welfare of this province has been ignored by the authorities.
