Editing Pistachio (section)

===History===
The pistachio tree is native to [[Afghanistan]], [[Flora of Iran|Iran]] and [[Central Asia]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marks |first=Gil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFK_yx7Ps7cC&pg=PT1 |title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food |date=2010 |publisher=HMH |isbn=978-0544186316 |language=en |quote=These pale green nuts covered with a papery skin grow on a small deciduous tree native to Persia, the area that still produces the best pistachios.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pistacia vera L. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:70280-1 |access-date=24 May 2019 |website=Plants of the World Online}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pistachio {{!}} Description, Uses, & Nutrition |url=https://www.britannica.com/plant/pistachio-plant |access-date=24 May 2019 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |quote=The pistachio tree is believed to be indigenous to Iran.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=V. Tavallali and M. Rahemi |date=2007 |title=Effects of Rootstock on Nutrient Acquisition by Leaf, Kernel and Quality of Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) |url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/53e4/b0db43473510e6cbadb0b076bb77791f498a.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci. |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=240–246 |s2cid=7346114 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224061521/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/53e4/b0db43473510e6cbadb0b076bb77791f498a.pdf |archive-date=24 February 2019 |quote=Native P. vera forests are located in north eastern part of Iran particularly in Sarakhs region. This native P. vera originates from cultivated pistachio trees in Iran [1]. P. mutica is a wild species indigenous to Iran that grows with almonds, oak, and other forest trees and is common to most Alpine regions.}}</ref>

[[Archaeology|Archaeological evidence]] shows that pistachio seeds were a common food as early as 6750 BCE.<ref name="IR">{{cite web |title=History and Agriculture of the Pistachio Nut |url=http://www.ireco.lu/UK/pistachionut.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060708221932/http://www.ireco.lu/UK/pistachionut.html |archive-date=8 July 2006 |access-date=27 February 2012 |publisher=IRECO}}</ref> The earliest archeological evidence of pistachio consumption goes back to the Bronze Age Central Asia and comes from [[Djarkutan]], modern Uzbekistan.<ref>{{cite book |author=D. T. Potts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7lK6l7oF_ccC&pg=PA199 |title=A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Volume 1 |date=21 May 2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1405189880 |page=199}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Harlan Walker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpOqTUucwhUC&pg=PA84 |title=Cooks and Other People |publisher=Oxford Symposium |year=1996 |isbn=978-0907325727 |page=84}}</ref>

The Romans introduced pistachio trees from Asia to Europe in the first century AD. They are cultivated across Southern Europe and North Africa.<ref name="Davidson">Davidson (1999) ''Oxford Companion to food,'' Oxford University Press</ref>

[[Theophrastus]] described it as a [[terebinth]]-like tree with [[almond]]-like nuts from [[Bactria]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Theophrastus |author2=[[Arthur Hort]] |title=Enquiry into Plants |publisher=William Heinemann |others=Translated by Sir Arthur Hort |year=1916 |volume=1 |location=London |pages=317}}</ref>

It appears in [[Dioscorides]]' writings as ''pistákia'' (πιστάκια), recognizable as ''P. vera'' by its comparison to [[pine nut]]s.<ref>James Strong, ed. ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature,'' ''s.v.'' "Nut".</ref>

[[Pliny the Elder]] wrote in his [[Natural History (Pliny)|''Natural History'']] that ''pistacia'', "well known among us", was one of the trees unique to Syria, and that the [[seed]] was introduced into Italy by the Roman [[proconsul]] in Syria, [[Lucius Vitellius the Elder]] (in office in 35 AD), and into [[Hispania]] at the same time by [[Cicero|Flaccus Pompeius]].<ref>[[Pliny's Natural History]], xiii.10.5, xv.22.</ref>

The manuscript ''De observatione ciborum'' (''On the Observance of Foods'') by [[Anthimus (physician)|Anthimus]],<ref>{{cite Q |Q130283165 |mode=cs1 }}</ref> from the early sixth century, implies that ''pistacia'' remained well-known in Europe in [[late antiquity]].

An article on pistachio tree cultivation was brought down in [[Ibn al-'Awwam]]'s 12th-century agricultural work, ''Book on Agriculture''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ibn al-'Awwam |first=Yaḥyá |url=https://archive.org/details/lelivredelagric00algoog/page/n14/mode/2up |title=Le livre de l'agriculture d'Ibn-al-Awam (kitab-al-felahah) |publisher=A. Franck |year=1864 |location=Paris |pages=245–248 (ch. 7 – Article 14) |language=fr |translator=J.-J. Clement-Mullet |oclc=780050566 |author-link=Ibn al-'Awwam}} (pp. [[iarchive:lelivredelagric00algoog/page/n352/mode/2up|245]]–248 (Article XIV)</ref>

[[Archaeologists]] have found evidence from excavations at [[Jarmo]] in northeastern Iraq for the consumption of Atlantic pistachio.<ref name="IR" />

The [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] were said to have contained pistachio trees during the reign of King [[Marduk-apla-iddina II]] about 700 BCE.<ref name="IR" />

In the 19th century, the pistachio was cultivated commercially in parts of the English-speaking world, such as Australia and in the US in [[New Mexico]]<ref name="Herrera" /> and California, where it was introduced in 1854 as a garden tree.<ref name="Rieger">{{Cite web |last=Rieger |first=Mark |date=2012 |title=Pistachio – ''pistacia vera'' |url=http://www.uga.edu/fruit/pistachio-pistacia-vera/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141030171646/http://www.uga.edu/fruit/pistachio-pistacia-vera/ |archive-date=30 October 2014 |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=Mark's Fruit Crops |publisher=University of Georgia}}</ref>

In 1904 and 1905, [[David Fairchild]] of the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] introduced hardier [[cultivar]]s to California collected from China, but it was not promoted as a commercial crop until 1929.<ref name="Herrera" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Fairchild |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/worldwasmygarden00fair |title=The World Was My Garden |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1938 |isbn=068684310X |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldwasmygarden00fair/page/174 174] |author-link=David Fairchild |url-access=registration}}; Commissioner of Horticulture of the State of California,''Biennial report''1905/06, vol. II:392.</ref> [[Walter Tennyson Swingle|Walter T. Swingle's]] pistachios from Syria had already fruited well at [[Niles, Fremont, California|Niles]], California, by 1917.<ref>[[Liberty Hyde Bailey]], ''Cyclopedia of American Agriculture: II.Crops'', 1917, ''s.v.''"Importance of plant introduction" p. {{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref>

In 1969 and 1971, changes to the tax code in the United States eliminated [[tax shelter]]s for [[almonds]] and [[citrus fruits]]. That encouraged California farmers to plant pistachio trees because they were still eligible for such tax breaks. In 1972, the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah of Iran]] began a school breakfast program that included packets of pistachios. This resulted in a decline in pistachio exports from Iran, resulting in increased prices in other countries and additional incentives to plant pistachio trees in California.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last=Blackburn |first=Mark |date=October 3, 1979 |title=California Pistachios With Perfect Timing |language= |pages= |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |publisher= |location= |url=https://nyti.ms/1H8l3ng |accessdate=February 21, 2023}}</ref> The first commercial pistachio harvest in California took place in 1976.<ref name="GT">{{cite news |last=Durkin |first=Andrea |date=April 14, 2020 |title=Pistachios: The Quirks of Agricultural Trade in a Nutshell |language= |pages= |newspaper=Global Trade |publisher= |location= |url=https://www.globaltrademag.com/pistachios-the-quirks-of-agricultural-trade-in-a-nutshell/ |accessdate=February 21, 2023}}</ref> The Shah was forced into exile in January 1979 during the [[Iranian Revolution]], resulting in an end to trade between the United States and Iran, providing additional incentives for American farmers to plant dramatically more pistachio trees.<ref name="NYT" />

By 2008, U.S. pistachio production rivaled that of Iran. Drought and cold weather in Iran led to severe declines in production, while U.S. production was increasing. At that time, pistachios were Iran's second-most important export product, after the oil and gas sector.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dahl |first=Frederick |date=October 8, 2008 |title=Iran faces U.S. challenge in "pistachio war" |language= |pages= |newspaper=[[Reuters]] |publisher= |location= |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-pistachios/iran-faces-u-s-challenge-in-pistachio-war-idUSTRE49806E20081009 |accessdate=February 21, 2023}}</ref>

By 2020, there were 150,000 pistachio farmers in Iran, approximately 70% of whom were small-scale producers using inefficient manual picking and processing techniques. There were 950 far larger U.S. producers, using highly efficient mechanized production techniques. The U.S. and Iran control 70% of the world export market, with the U.S. in the lead. Worldwide demand exceeds production, so both countries can sell to various export markets.<ref name="GT" />

In 2021, [[Fresno County, California]], accounted for about 40% of U.S. pistachio production, with a value of $722 million.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fitchette |first=Todd |date=October 28, 2022 |title=Fresno leads nation in almond, pistachio production: The county amassed a record value of just over $8 billion last year. |language= |pages= |newspaper=Farm Progress |publisher= |location= |url=https://www.farmprogress.com/tree-nuts/fresno-leads-nation-in-almond-pistachio-production |accessdate=February 21, 2022}}</ref>