📸 Season of Collapse; a Bitter Autumn for Walnut Pickers in Iran

In recent years—especially during the months of Shahrivar and Mehr—many reports have been published about walnuts falling from trees during the harvest season. These reports include news of broken limbs and feet, spinal cord injuries, and in some cases, the deaths of walnut pickers.

Although these incidents occur mostly in so-called “walnut-nurturing” provinces such as Hamedan, North Khorasan, Kurdistan, Gilan, and Mazandaran, there is no official or compiled statistics in this regard.

According to the pre-hospital emergency services in Hamedan, which is considered the capital of Iran’s walnut, in 1405 (2026/2025) during the walnut harvest, 198 people were injured and 4 were killed.

In North Khorasan Province as well, so far 49 cases of falls from walnut trees have been reported. Similar reports and figures have been published in previous years from different parts of Iran.

Economic conditions have pushed a large number of workers into seasonal work. Traditional tree structures and their great height, the use of the traditional method of cutting with wood and the brittle nature of walnut tree branches have been cited as the main factors behind these accidents.