Afghanistan needs some 6 million tonnes of wheat annually to feed its people. While it grows some 4.5 million tonnes, the rest is imported.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock is hopeful the country will be self-sufficient by 2020.
Afghanistan needs some 6 million tonnes of wheat annually to feed its people. While it grows some 4.5 million tonnes, the rest is imported.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock is hopeful the country will be self-sufficient by 2020.
Minister of Agriculture Asadullah Zameer says four million hectares of rain-fed land would be ready for sowing within the next four years. According to Zameer, most rain fed lands are not being cultivated. “We have drafted a four-year strategy for rain-fed lands. The project would solve the problems of grains of Afghans entirely,” he is hopeful.
Some 90 percent of rain-fed lands are located in 16 provinces including Helmand, Kabul, Herat and Kunduz. The authorities say they have plans to irrigate rain-fed lands with cooperation from Australia, a country self-sufficient in wheat. Australian Ambassador to Afghanistan Mathew Anderson who met the public along with the minister for agriculture said his country has promised some 25 million USD to develop and expand rain-fed lands in Afghanistan.
The agriculture sector has shown good progress since 2002. While wheat production increased from 1.5 million tonnes, the area under saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, has swelled from 13 hectares to 1,000, and the annual yield to 3 tonnes. Cotton, which was 20,000 tonnes in 2002, has more than doubled to 50,000.
A Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report says 30,000 tonnes of improved seeds, valued at more than 7 million USD, are distributed to farmers annually. More than one hundred companies are involved in producing the improved seeds in 28 provinces. An FAO official told Killid there was no seed distribution in 2002.
Livestock
The rearing of livestock which was neglected under the Taleban has received active government encouragement since 2002. Some 8,500 big and small farms are exclusively rearing Karakul sheep, valued as much for its meat as for velvety pelts which are sold in the West, mainly in Finland, according to media reports quoting official statistics. Nearly a half million Afghan lamb pelts were exported to Finland, and onwards to fashion houses to be turned into luxurious women’s coats. The centre of the trade is Mazar-e-Sharif where fur traders who have purchased pelts from across the country, gather in March or April to sell to exporters who decide the price.
In addition there are poultry farms, supplying an estimated half a million chicken to the market every year.
Horticulture
With some 120,000 hectares under fruit and other trees, fruit has become a major export. Engineer Mohammad Ghulam Mullahkhil who heads the national project of gardening in the ministry says an additional 3,000 jeribs (600 hectares) of land will be planted with saplings of “almonds, pears, nuts, Turkish apples, plums, apricots, cherries, grapes and apples”. It would create jobs for hundreds of people.
Land distribution
To develop the agriculture sector, the government has to give land titles to people. Thousands of hectares remain uncultivated in the north and western parts of the country.
Based on information from the lands authority, 279,700 jeribs (55,940 hectares) have been usurped by government and non-governmental organisations; 986,334 jeribs (197,266 hectares) by influential individuals. Most of the land is in provinces like Balkh, Nimroz, Takhar, Baghlan, Lugar, Kunduz, Kapisa and Nangarhar. The lands include agriculture and common lands like pastures.
The lands authority calculates that some 263,537 jeribs (52,707 hectares) have been usurped for construction of townships.
Forests
Most forest lands are in Paktia, Nangarhar, Kunar, Badghis, Sar-e Pol, Nuristan and Samangan. Area under forests has expanded from 1.3 million hectares to 1.7 million, according to the agriculture ministry.
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