In a sprawling plant in the heart of California's farmland, millions of shells rush down a metallic chute and onto a conveyor belt where they're inspected, roasted, packaged, and shipped off to groceries around the world. Pistachios are growing fast in California, where farmers have been devoting more land to a crop seen as hardier and more drought-tolerant. The crop generated nearly $3 billion last year in California, and in the past decade, the United States has surpassed Iran to become the world's top exporter of the nut, per the AP. "There has been an explosion over the last 10 or 15 years of plantings, and those trees are coming online," said Zachary Fraser, president and CEO of American Pistachio Growers, which represents more than 800 farmers in the southwestern US. "You are starting to see the fruit of people's vision from 40 years ago."
California grows more than a third of the country's vegetables and three-quarters of its fruit and nuts, per state agricultural statistics. Pistachios have surged over the past decade to become the state's sixth-biggest agricultural commodity in value, ahead of longtime crops such as strawberries and tomatoes, the data shows. Much of the crop heads to China, where it's a popular treat during Lunar New Year. But industry experts said Americans also are eating more pistachios, which were rarely in grocery stores a generation ago and today are a snack food found almost everywhere. They're sold with shells or without, and flavors range from salt and pepper to honey roasted.
Pistachios are poised to weather California's dry spells better than its even bigger nut crop, almonds, which generated nearly $4 billion in the state last year. Pistachio orchards can be sustained with minimal water during drought, unlike almonds and other more sensitive crops. The trees also rely on wind instead of bees for pollination and can produce nuts for decades longer, said Rob Yraceburu, president of Wonderful Orchards, part of the $6 billion agricultural firm Wonderful Company. Over the next few years, pistachio acreage is expected to continue to grow. "You see all the value the pistachio industry is providing to California agriculture is approaching that of almonds, with a lot less acreage," said David Magana, a senior analyst at Rabobank. "I haven't seen pistachio orchards being pulled out." More here.
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