ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Halabja’s seventh annual pomegranate festival is underway this weekend and farmers are hoping to increase exports of the fruit that symbolizes the Kurdish city. 

“We have been able to make pomegranate the identity of Halabja and further introduce Halabja pomegranates,” Star Kamal, head of Halabja’s agriculture directorate, told Rudaw. “We also made a step forward in finding a good institution that can export Halabja pomegranates to world markets.”

Nearly 500 farmers are attending the three-day festival that began Thursday. Twenty-six types of pomegranates are on show. Halabja produced less than 25,000 tons of pomegranates this year, according to Kamal, down from last year’s 35,000 tons.

Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) ministry of agriculture said it has plans to support farmers who want to export their pomegranates.

Mohammed Hussein, spokesperson for the ministry, told Rudaw that they have issued instructions to all companies who want to export pomegranates. “We have told them that this has to be done in a way that will not harm the reputation of Kurdistan Region’s local produce, and that it should match the standard of the country that requests it.”
 
Halabja pomegranates were seen in European markets last year, but the volume of exports was limited. 

Photos: Horvan Rafaat/Rudaw