KABUL (Pajhwok): The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) says rice production in Afghanistan has reached 438,000 metric tonnes this year, showing a 9 percent surge compared to last year’s harvest.
NSIA wrote on its X handle today (Sunday) that rice crop was grown in 17 provinces that produced 438,000 metric tonnes.
According to NSIA, the authority used remote sensing technology including satellite images for measuring the land on which rice was grown in 2024 in Afghanistan and it shows rice was grown on 129,000.2 hectares of land across the country.
Without sharing figures for 2023, NSIA said the figures of the current year showed a 9.6 percent surge in the production of rice across the country.
Based on NSIA information, by producing 130,000 metric tonnes of rice, northern Kunduz province ranked the highest, Takhar by producing 107,000 metric tonnes ranked second and Baghlan ranked third position by producing 43,000 metric tonnes of rice.
The information shows 41,000 metric tonnes of rice was produced in Nangarhar and 24,000 tonnes in eastern Kunar and northern Balkh provinces.
This is while Afghanistan needs 705,000 metric tonne of rice each year besides rice seeds, NSIA added.
NSIA authority evaluated and collected this data (by spending a fund of 3 million afs) on satellite images and the geographical pictures from the time of growing the rice until reaping and processing this crop in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI).
aw/ma
