MAIMANA (SW) – A number of farmers in Faryab say that due to the drought, their fields are dry and they will not be able to harvest much this year.
Hamidullah, a farmer in Faryab, told Salam Watandar that he planted wheat this year, but due to lack of rain, it could not grow. “What to do, there are many problems? I am an agricultural wanderer, my leg is also lame. There was no wheat this year either. The peasant is like a dead man. There has been a drought for four or five years.”
He said that he earns all his income from farming and animal husbandry, but due to drought, all his income have been lost.
Taj Mohammad, another farmer in Faryab, who has been farming for 65 years, said that he planted nearly 50 hectares of land with wheat, but due to the drought, all his efforts have been wasted.
On the other hand, Gholam Farooq, director of Faryab’s department of agriculture, irrigation and livestock, said that the current year’s drought is worrying compared to previous years. He said: “Drought threatens the farmers of this province in general because all of our people’s income is dependent on agriculture. Unfortunately this year’s drought has made our farmers suffer more.”
He added that in the districts of Andkhoy region 100 percent and in Saddzat, Daulat Abad, Shirin Tagab, Khwaja Sabzposh and Elmar districts 90% of rain crops have disappeared. He said that in Pashtonkot, Garzivan and Kohistan districts, the rainfall has been relatively good and the wheat harvest in these districts is 60% satisfactory.
This is despite the fact that most of the agricultural land in Faryab is dependent on rain and 85% of the residents of this province provide their living needs through agriculture and animal husbandry. But successive droughts in the last three-four years have made life difficult for them.
ENDS
