As peach yield soars, Nangarhar horticulturists demand training

JALALBAD (Pajhwok):  Despite natural disasters that damaged many fruit orchards in eastern Nangarhar province this year, peach yield has increased compared to last year.

Nangarhar produced 9768 tons of peach last year and this year’s yield registered a 100-ton increase. Peach orchards are planted on 603 hectares of land in 17 districts of the province.

Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Department officials say they planted more peach orchards in the past years — a reason for the increased yield.

Nimatullah Akbari, agricultural services head at the Nangarhar Department of Agriculture, told Pajhwok on Monday that peach orchards existed in 17 districts, but hailstorms and heavy rains damaged the fruit in Kama, Goshta, Kot and Dara Nor districts.

He said despite the natural disasters, the peach yield increased by 100 tons compared to last year.

He said: “More than 600 hectares of land has peach orchards in 17 districts. Last year, these orchards yielded 9,768 tons and this year our estimate is that the yield will reach 9874 tons”.

Farmers in many districts who have grown peach orchards on their lands are happy with this year’s harvest.

Khan Agha, who owns a peach orchard on 2.5 acres of land in Behsud district, said his profit increased compared to previous years, but due to lack of training how to maintain and take care of the orchards, farmers faced problems how to timely deal with diseases.

He said some diseases affected the peace harvest this year, urging the Agriculture Department to give gardeners special training to improve the harvest.

Sharifullah, a gardener in Sararud district, asked the government to help farmers find market for their produce.

Besides Nangarhar, people have planted peach orchards in Kunar and Laghman provinces.

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