Khost records 30pc surge in wheat harvest this year

KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): The Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Department says wheat harvest will reach 10,000 tonnes in southeastern Khost province this year.

The department’s advisor Bahir Gul Saberi told Pajhwok Afghan News 17,000 hectares of land produced nearly 7,000 tonnes of wheat last year and this year’s harvest could reach 10,000 tonnes --- 30 percent up over last year’s yield .

“The overall yield is very good and the main factor behind the surge is the distribution of refined seeds to 10,000 farmers and training programs in 1402 solar year”: Saberi added.

Farmers are happy with the increased wheat yield.

Bakhtullah, a farmer in Tannio district, told Pajhwok the high amount of rain led to the bumper wheat yield this year.

“Alhamdulillah, wheat yield has surged compared to past years because dry spell. It rained on time, the wheat harvests are good”: he added.

However, he said not all farmers benefitted from the distribution of improved quality seeds and had no good quality as expected

Eid Mohammad, another farmer, said: “There is no better soil in the world than ours, and our yield is less than our efforts”.

Meanwhile, officials say they plan to distribute seeds and chemicals to 23,000 farmers in the province this year.

hz/ma