Afghanistan self-sufficient in most agri, livestock sectors

KABUL (Pajhwok): In addition to providing thousands of work opportunities, Afghanistan has reached self-sufficiency in most sectors of agriculture and livestock, the deputy agriculture minister said on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Maulvi Sadr Azam Usmani said his ministry provided farmers and ranchers with services in farms establishing.

He said his ministry provided farmers with modified seeds, alternative crops to poppy, cash and assisted in marketing and countering drought.

“Right now there are about 15,000 chicken farms across the country, which have generated job opportunities to 15,000 people”, he said. “After the takeover by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), we can say that this country has reached self-sufficiency in the field of chicken and egg-production.”

In the past, farmers were distributed about 13,000 MT of modified seeds but last year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) distributed 33,000MT seeds to farmers across the country.

The yield of wheat has surpassed five million tonnes compared to three million tonnes in the past, he said.

Usmani added to solve the problems of farmers, the ministry has also distributed three billion afs from its Marabiha fund.

The lack of water-heads was a main problem of farmers in the past and the ministry is trying to address the matter completely.

Although drought was severe across the country, MAIL has so far solved this issue by building more check-dams, but the negative impacts of the drought still appear somehow in some places.

To reach the problems of local people and fight pests and illnesses of crops and ranching sector, MAIL is implementing multiple vaccination drives and has built a vet clinic in each district of the country, the deputy minister said.

“Still our farmers face some problems and our agricultural products have no good market and to address such issues, we organized multiple exhibitions and built cold storages and the government is still trying how to sell the products at good prices in both domestic and international markets”.

The government has set up a special fund to address the issue of alternative crops to poppy across the country. “The farmers get more modified seeds to switch from poppy to other crops”.

Usmani added the government inked more agreements with different organizations through which $130 million will be spent on agriculture and livestock sectors.

He further urged farmers to consult professional specialists when they wanted to grow something and use modified seeds resistant to pests and in the case of any problems, they could contact MAIL officials.

aw/ma

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