Several farmers and farmers in Maidan Wardak province have expressed satisfaction with the increase in cherry yields this year. They report that the current year’s harvest is satisfactory, but there is no suitable market for selling their agricultural products.
In conversations with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, these farmers complained about the lack of a domestic market and the Taliban’s failure to support and facilitate the export of fruits abroad. They say they are forced to sell their produce at low prices in local markets to prevent the fruits from spoiling.
On the other hand, these farmers welcome the early planting of saplings in Maidan Wardak and call on the Taliban-controlled government agencies and cooperating organizations to provide opportunities for exporting agricultural products outside Afghanistan. According to these farmers, relevant institutions should establish cold storage facilities within the country to protect farmers from losses.
Cherries are among the early-ripening fruits in the country, maturing before other fruits at the end of spring and the beginning of summer. This has led many farmers in recent years to turn to planting and cultivating cherry trees due to the early harvest.
Mohammad Rafi, a farmer from the Sadmarda area in Nerkh district, Maidan Wardak, says that many farmers in this district have started planting cherry trees in recent years and are getting good yields.
However, this farmer adds that due to a lack of access to external markets and difficult transportation routes in the Nerkh district, agricultural products from this area are not sold at favorable prices. He states: “Cherry is a very good fruit. It blooms later than other trees and ripens earlier than all. It can be planted densely in a small area, and it has become popular in our village in recent years. But our roads are bad, and traders cannot reach this area.”
He emphasizes that farmers in this region face many challenges in transporting their fruits to domestic markets and do not have cold storage facilities to sell them at the right time.
Mohammad, another farmer from Jalrez district in Maidan Wardak, states that cherry yields in the orchards of this district have increased this year, but there are no opportunities to export them abroad, forcing them to sell their products at low prices in local markets.
This farmer adds: “The yield is good this year, but not all of it is profit for the farmer. By the time the profit reaches us, we have already spent money on spraying the trees, using chemical fertilizers, and various other expenses with our savings. Our profit is minimal. Until the fruit is exported or cold storage facilities are built, no matter how much yield we have, the profit will not be significant.”
Mohammad stresses that planting cherry trees in most parts of the country has yielded good results. He believes that if farmers are supported, this product could also serve as a good alternative to cultivating narcotics.
farmers in Maidan Wardak province say that they have planted at least 170 cherry trees per hectare of land, and these trees bear fruit in three years. According to them, each tree produces up to 35 kilograms of cherries annually, with the current price of cherries in local markets being 60 Afghanis per kilogram, which is slightly higher compared to other fruits in the country.
These farmers report increased cherry yields in Maidan Wardak province amid Afghanistan’s reliance on Pakistan for exporting its agricultural products. Every year, during Afghanistan’s fruit harvest season, Pakistan blocks the country’s agricultural products from reaching global markets under various pretexts. In the latest move, Pakistani officials have increased import tariffs on Afghan fruits at their border crossings by up to tenfold.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
افزایش حاصلات گیلاس در میدانوردک و شکایت باغداران از نبود بازار فروش | روزنامه ۸صبح
