Financial Tribune - A total of 111,818 tons of tea leaves have been purchased by the government from local farmers at 3.09 trillion rials ($26.98 million) in the first half of the current fiscal year (started March 21), according to the head of Iran Tea Organization.

�Over 25,158 tons of processed tea were derived from this amount of purchases, showing a 5% rise compared with the similar period of last year,� Habibollah Jahansaz was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

Tea is currently experiencing its third and last harvest of the year.

The product undergoes three harvests a year: the spring harvest that starts in late April, the second in summer begins early June and the last in autumn starts late September.