TEHRAN- The head of the local department of agriculture at Shedegan County in Khuzestan Province said that 2,000 palm trees which were ready to be harvested were burnt to ashes on Wednesday, IRNA reported.

Hamid Matroodi added that the blaze started Wednesday morning and lasted up to night. Matroodi blamed lack of firefighting equipment and access roads as the reasons that why it took time to put out the fire.
The local official said intense heat, drought and wilting of the trees were the main causes of the fire.
He also said that 30 percent of the date palms in Sahdegan County suffer from wilting.
With an average production of 100 tons per year, Shadegan ranks first in date production in the province. The dates are exported to Europe, Persian Gulf countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, he explained.

PT/P