Greenhouses built on hundreds of acres of Farah farmland

FARAH CITY (Pajhwok): Agriculture officials of western Farah province on Wednesday said that the province’s environment was suitable for greenhouses and could produce crops three seasons a year.

Local officials say that greenhouses have been built on around 4,000 acres of land in the province.

Mulavi Faisal, Farah agriculture director, talking to Pajhwok Afghan News, said, “Greenhouses in Farah produce crops of cucumber, tomato, pumpkin and other vegetables in two seasons a year.”

On average, half an acre of greenhouse produces from 45 to 50 metric tons of pumpkin and cucumber a year, he said, adding that price of cucumber and pumpkin in Farah is almost the same and a ton is sold for 18,000 afghanis.

He said that half an acre of greenhouse generates about 900,000 to 1000,000 afghanis a year.

Faisal said that Farah greenhouses’ crops were also exported to other provinces of the country.

Agriculture department sends professional teams to farmlands from time to time to advise farmers on agricultural issues, he added.

Ahmad Amirzai, a resident of Farah province who owns a greenhouse, said, “I have built a greenhouse on 4,000 square meters of land and I have grown cucumbers and tomatoes in nine greenhouses, I am satisfied from my business.”

He said that he presented 1,050 kilograms to 1,190 kilograms of cucumbers to the market every day for sale and sold each seven kilograms for 180 to 190 afghanis.

He said the cucumber was being exported not only to other parts of the country but also to Pakistan.

Abdul Jabbar Matin, another resident of Farah said, “The quality of cucumbers of Farah is better than Iranian cucumbers. The government should stop importing foreign cucumbers so that we can consume our own products in the country.”

He said that Farah province had no flowing water and farmers used deep wells for irrigation of their farms. The government should address this issue and start work on the Bakhshabad Dam to resolve Farah farmers’ problems, he added.

Bakhshabad Dam is located in Bala Bolok district of Farah province and its construction was launched under the previous administration. However, the construction process of the project is paused after the establishment of the caretaker government under Islamic Emirate.

mds/ma

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