On the verge of the harvest season, all statistics and local news broadcast an unprecedented reduction in rainfed fig production in Estahban with a decline of more than 50 percent. Obviously, the serious threats posed by drought in this year, drastic rainfall shortages, and climate change are becoming increasingly big threatening phenomena on dried fig orchards.

In 2025, due to drought, temperature damage, fluctuation of humidity during fruit productivity and ripening, and serious fluctuations between day and night temperatures, both productivity and products have fallen by more than 50 percent.

This issue has led to a significantly smaller harvest, inflicting serious damage on the regional economy and foreign exchange earnings. Due to clear reports and analytical news outlets, the drought crisis in Estahban has been addressed as an unprecedented phenomenon. This important county in Fars province, with its long-standing reputation for producing figs, is now in need; attention, support, and prompt planning.

Orchards of Estahban, which are the result of the tireless efforts, indigenous knowledge, and agricultural promotion culture of the people of this land, are unfortunately facing a serious threat to the economic chain of this valuable product due to the drastic decline in rainfall.

These strategic products are among the most important symbols of Iranian agriculture that are seriously endangered right now. When farmers drastically face water scarcity, rising costs, and a lack of hope for a flourishing future, there can not be an expectation of preserving and continuing production of this product.

The hardworking fig orchardists of Fars province, who account for more than 90 percent of the country’s dried fig production, have literally seen their small share this year. Consequently, Estahban figs are being offered at unusually high prices in the market. These prices are neither profitable for exporters nor affordable for domestic customers and sellers, and have also had a negative impact on domestic exporter companies and foreign demanding markets.

This strategic and precious product is the fruit of farmers’ labor, cultivated with their calloused hands. Final word, in a region with such low annual rainfall and climate challenges, Estahban’s fig orchards now urgently require supplemental irrigation to preserve this invaluable agricultural heritage and foreign exchange earnings.