Plant diseases negatively affect Paktia’s apple yield

GARDEZ (Pajhwok): A number of farmers in southeastern Paktia claim their apple-orchards were affected by plant diseases this year and their apple yield has reduced, an issue confirmed by local officials.

The farmers claim worms damaged their apples on trees which dropped prematurely.

Rahmatullah, an orchard owner in Ahmad Abad district, told Pajhwok Afghan News plant diseases had damaged the yield of his entire 350 apple-trees.

He said: “I sold over 24 tonnes of apple last year from my orchard, but due to the drill worms and plant diseases, my orchard yield was reduced to half of the yield of previous year. The price of each kilogram was about 20 afs, last year while each kilogram of apple is marketed for only 10 afs per kilogram this year, which does not make the money we spent on our orchards.”

Zulmai, another farmer, also complained about the worms and said his apples dropped from trees premature, a problem which damaged the fruits of their orchards.

He asked officials of the government to help farmers in marketing their fruits.

Zulmai said: “As apples ripen this time, when they wake up every morning, we witness kilos of apples dropping themselves. Apples which are not marketable, we want the government to help us to find a suitable market for our remaining apples.”

A number of other farmers and orchard owners made similar remarks and asked the government to help them in marketing their products.

Local Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation department officials confirmed the issue and damaged yield of orchards in Paktia province.

Agriculture Propagation director Azizullah Karimi told Pajhwok apple yield in the province declined from 10 to 15 percent this year.

Karimi said: “The apple harvest has declined by 10 to 15 percent this year in Paktia because the weather was very cold during the spring season and hailstorms also damaged blossoms. Furthermore the existence of some other plant diseases also affected the yield of orchards negatively.”

The official assured farmers that they will help them in finding a suitable market for their fruit products.

“We have been working with some organizations to build cod storages for farmers as well where they can store their products”, the official added.

aw/ma

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