Afghanistan produces over 13,000 tonnes of citrus fruits

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MoAIL) says the country produced more than 13,000 metric tonnes of citrus fruits, including tangerine, orange and lemon, last year.

In a statement, MoAIL said citrus gardens had been set up on about 1,052 hectares of land in Nangarhar, which yielded the fruits in 2020.

Kunar was the leading province in terms of orange production of orange. Last year, it produced 2,002 metric tonnes of orange. The fruit was cultivated on 286 hectares of land in Kunar.

The statement said that Laghman and Khost provinces were in third and fourth positions respectively in terms of citrus fruit production.

The ministry said the plantation of citrus saplings had increased in recent years in Kabul, Takhar, Balkh and Sar-i-Pul provinces.

The saplings have been planted on 1,952 hectares of land across the country -- kino on 61 hectares, orange on 415 hectares and lemon on 449 hectares.

sa/mud