Herbal plant ‘Raf’ harvesting increases in Daikundi

NEILLI (Pajhwok): The harvesting of the herbal plant Raf has expanded in central Daikundi province and the government generated over 24 million afs revenue last year, an official said has said.

Mawlavi Sher Ahmad Rafai, the provincial Agriculture and Livestock director, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the Raf plant is cultivated in the Shahristan, Miramour, Kaiti, Khazair, Pato districts and Neilli City and it generated fair income.

He said for the first time last year Raf was cultivated on 500 hectares of land in six Daikundi districts. It was given on lease to a private company by the Agriculture Department.

He said first the above-mentioned areas were surveyed and identified and later through the bidding process it was handed over to a private company.

He said over 42 million afs revenue was generated from this transaction and the amount was transferred to the government treasury.

Daikundi is one of the mountainous provinces where the Raf plant grows naturally in the spring season in the majority of its mountains. Raf produces fruit as well which is known as a mountain fruit with a good taste among the people.

Agriculture experts said that Raf is a herbal plant and it could be used as medicine for some diseases.

Aziz Sharifi, an agriculture expert said Raf is one of the plants of the Hing family, its juice is bought and sold at a high price in the market..

He added that Raf has a different smell, so its price in the market is a little cheaper than Hing, and Raf plant has anti-worm, antibiotic and fungal properties.

He also stated that the Raf plant is very effective for addressing digestive problems and lowering blood pressure.

He stressed that people did not have enough information about the juice of Raf therefore they did not pay attention to this plant which has multiple effective properties.

He said the juice of Raf is bought at a low price and then it is sold at a high price in other countries, including India.

Arzi Karbalae, a resident of Miramour district, said that Raf was found at a large scale in the mountains of their area.

He said: “There is a lot of Raf in our mountains. Our people collect Raf bushes for animals during the spring season. No one has yet extracted its juice and sold it.”

He said that he heard that this area had been surveyed and a company will next year collect Raf from here.

He said people were unaware of the importance of Raf and the method of extracting its juice, expert people should do this job.

Din Mohammad, another resident, said that people were unaware of the importance of Raf and some had recently received awareness.

He said people are facing acute economic problems, adding that if people were aware of the importance of the Raf plant and worked in this area they would have not been in economic problems.

He asked the government to involve local residents in the harvest and juice extraction of the Raf plant so that local people could also learn the skill.

According to experts, Daikundi Mountains are rich in different and unknown sources, the identification and extraction of these resources could help make local people economically self-sufficient.

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