Pistachio
history :
Pistachio is a plant that has long been cultivated in different parts of Iran. Wild forests and pistachio forests in northeastern Iran and areas bordering Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have an ancient history and it is thought that the pistachio tree was domesticated and cultivated in Iran about 3-4 thousand years ago.
The first pistachio cultivars in Iran were the result of breeding and domestication of wild pistachio trees. The number of these cultivars is very limited and their appearance is similar to the car pistachio crop. Pistachio has undergone some transformation and new cultivars have emerged.
Economic value:
Pistachio as a strategic product has a special place among products. This product constitutes a major part of non-oil exports. In the current situation, about 55% of production and more than 60% of world pistachio exports are in our country and foreign exchange earnings from pistachio exports are more than $ 400 million.
Acreage :
At present, the area under pistachio cultivation in Iran is more than 360,000 hectares. Kerman province, with a total of more than 270,000 hectares of fertile and infertile orchards, produces 77% of the country’s total crop and is considered as the most important pistachio growing region in Iran and the world. . Other pistachio-growing provinces are: Yazd, Khorasan, Fars, Semnan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Qazvin, Markazi, Isfahan and Qom, which have more than 90,000 hectares of remaining cultivated area.
Nutritional value:
Today’s science has proven the advantages of pistachio in many ways over many nutritious and nutritious foods such as caviar, shrimp, red and white meat, etc.
Introduction of pistachios
The pistachio tree (Pistacia Vera L.) belongs to the genus Anacardiaceae. There are 11 species of the genus Pistacia, all of which secrete turpentine or turpentine. The plants of this genus are trees or shrubs. Pistachio tree has leaves. It is a comb compound and each leaf contains a lateral bud. Most lateral buds turn into primary inflorescences and form a main axis that produces pistachio clusters the following year. Therefore, these pistachio clusters grow laterally on the annual branch.
Botanically, pistachios can be classified as shaft fruits. Shaft fruits consist of three parts: the outer layer, the middle layer, and the inner layer, which cover the inside. The difference between shaft fruits is in their edible part. In pistachios and almonds, the kernel (kernel) is eaten, while other fruits of the shaft (apricot, peach) have a hard kernel and are between the inverted portions of the edible part of the fruit.
The pistachio tree has two stems, meaning that both male and female stems are needed to produce fruit, and it is not possible to distinguish male and female stems from each other except from their flowers (in spring and during flowering).
Of course, experienced experts and gardeners can easily distinguish a male tree from a female by the size of the tree, the shape of the leaves, the shape of the buds, and how they are placed on the branches. The flowers lack petals and nectar-forming tubers, so they do not attract bees and the pollen is dispersed by the wind. The pistachio tree is deciduous, meaning that it falls in the fall and spends the winter asleep.
The rooting of the pistachio tree is axial and vertical and it sinks into the soil to a depth of more than two meters. The deep root system of the tree enables it to penetrate deep into the soil and feed well on the water and materials in it, and therefore pistachio trees can adapt to long periods of drought. The power to produce secondary roots in the pistachio tree It is very weak and whenever the end of the main root is cut off, the tree dries up and dies.
The non-seedling stage of the pistachio tree is long. Before the age of five, trees produce little fruit, and from the age of 10 to 12, the tree begins to bear fruit economically.
The pistachio tree is accustomed to vertical growth, so that the rapid growth of terminal buds prevents the growth of lateral buds in older trees. These characteristics have a great effect on the cultivation of young seedlings, pruning of mature trees and rejuvenation of old trees.
