KABUL (SW) – Hundreds of acres of land in Helmand would be covered with date orchards, said officials on Sunday.
Officials from the Helmand Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock have announced the establishment of date orchards in the province, and have said efforts are underway to build date orchards on 500 acres of land in the next few years.
Shah Mohammad, director general of agriculture promotion at the Helmand Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, told Salam Watandar that a variety of orchards had already been established on 415 acres of land in Nahr Saraj, Nad Ali, Nawa and Garmsir districts of the province. According to him, the cultivation of dates in Helmand has also yielded good results, which is why efforts have been made to promote its trees.
Meanwhile, farmers and residents of Helmand are also optimistic about the new initiative to establish date orchards. They say that the creation of such gardens can have a positive impact on the economic situation of citizens.
Samiullah, who owns a date shop in Lashkargah, said most of the dates are now imported from other countries that are not of good quality and people are reluctant to buy them because of the high price.
“Helmand has a warm climate and is suitable for growing dates. The people and the officials should plant dates here so that the price will go down and the people will be able to have jobs. Dates are currently imported from Iran, which is expensive to transport. That is why the price of dates is high and people are not willing to buy it. It would be great if dates were planted here.”
It is worth mentioning that there have been previous attempts to plant dates in Helmand province and the orchards that have been established so far have yielded good results, which is why many farmers are now trying to plant dates in their fields.
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