Kandahar to have agriculture complex on 500 acres

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): An agriculture complex is being constructed on 500 acres of land in southern Kandahar province and will have facilities of international level, an official said on Wednesday.

Reshad Bakhtari, head of the trade and industry department, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry planned to construct agriculture complexes in Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, Nangarhar provinces with financial support from the World Bank and for this purpose he traveled to Kandahar.

He said the establishment of agriculture complexes would facilitate production, packaging and protection of dry and fresh fruits.

He said Kandahar would be converted into an economic zone soon, which would help resolve many economic problems.

Haji Agha Nani, head of the Kandahar Fresh Fruits Union, said fresh and dry fruits were exported from Kandahar for years but there was no international level processing plant.

He said neither the private sector nor the government paid attention to this problem.

He said it was vital to process and package fruits and other items on international standards to ensure their quality.

Raisin Tader Mir Hamza said this year more grapes were produced and as a result raisin production increased.

He, however, complained about low prices of raisin in market and said currently raisin was imported to Pakistan and India only.

Nh/ma