SAR-I-PUL (Pajhwok): The yield of walnuts has decreased by nearly 30 percent this year due to extreme cold last year in northern Sar-i-Pul province.
Director of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Qari Abdul Qadir Wahdat told Pajhwok Afghan News last year 2,730 tonnes of walnuts had been yielded by forests on 1,050 hectares of land.
But this year only 2,000 tonnes of walnuts had been harvested from 1,052 hectares of orchard, the official said, linking the decline to climate change and extreme cold weather.
Abdul Samadi, a grower from Sancharak district, said: “We want the government to train gardeners and farmers on the current climate conditions.”
He believed: “If the government provides saplings for the farmers in accordance with the current climate situationand train them, the yields will definitely surge again.”
Mansour, another farmer from the same district, said the recent drought and climate change in the province had affected growers, who should be helped by the government.
“We want the authorities to set up research farms at provincial and district levels and share results with farmers,” he suggested.
Mirwais Qasimi, a spokesman for the Commerce and Industry Department, said most of walnuts were produced in Balkhab, Sancharak and Kohistanat districts.
He called walnut forests a source of income for many people. Currently, he reckoned, per seven-kilograms of walnuts cost 1,400 afghanis.
He said traders purchased walnuts and other dried fruits in the province and exported them to Uzbekistan via Jawzjan and Balkh provinces.
Haji Amir, a shopkeeper in the provincial capital, said: “We sell one kilogram of walnuts for 200 afs — not a reasonable price as people don’t have the power to buy this fruit. Only well-off people can.”
hz/sa/mud
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