Afghanistan having trouble replacing poppy with pomegranate
Pomegranates and grapes have long been the pride of Afghan agriculture, but exports from the landlocked country have suffered due to poor air connectivity and frequent border closures by Pakistan.
The sight of hundreds of long-haul trucks stuck along border towns became all too common in 2016, with tonnes of fruits and perishable items going to waste and forcing some farmers to return to the more lucrative cultivation of poppy.
“We invested huge sums of money on growing fresh fruits in our orchards,” grape farmer Abdul Samad from Panjwai district in southern Kandahar told AFP.
“We are very frustrated that Pakistan frequently shut the border during harvest season. We have no choice but to return to poppy farming. It will fetch us a lot more money than fruits.”
Pakistan sporadically shut the main border crossings as tensions flared due to firing incidents between the troops of both nations. With uneasy tensions and uncertainty for their crops many of the farmers are turning back to poppy cultivation which they see as the only way.
source: fruitworldmedia.com
