Melon yield estimated at 130,000 tons in Kunduz

KUNDUZ CITY (Pajhwok): The Agriculture Department of northern Kunduz province says melon crop is cultivated on 5,000 hectares of land which is estimated to produce 130,000 tons of the fruit this year.

Salahuddin Wahidi, an official of the Agriculture Department, told Pajhwok Afghan News that this year melon crop was cultivated on 5,000 hectares land in the province.

He said 130,000 tons of melon yield was expected this year.  Last year’s harvest was 114,000 tons and this year’s estimation shows a 20 percent increase.

Wahidi said the reasons behind the increase in yield were use of machinery and promotion of modified seeds.

On the other hand, farmers are also happy with the increased melon yield this year.

Abdul Rauf, a farmer, said this year’s melon yield was good compared to last year.

He said the government should prevent the import of foreign fruits so that domestic fruits could be sold at reasonable price.

He added: “Melon prices are low and the reason is that most of them are imported from foreign countries.”

Rahimullah, another farmer, said if the government exported fruits to foreign countries, it would help farmers and positively impact the country’s economic growth.

kk/sa/ma