SAR-E-PUL (SW) – A number of farmers in Sar-e-Pul, who have planted sesame on an area of about 30 acres of land at a cost of 100,000 to 120,000 afghanis, say that they did not get a good result this year due to successive droughts and suffered losses.
Aminullah, a farmer in the province, says that due to the lack of rain, most of the sesame crops in his land have been lost. He adds: “I have suffered damage and the problems are that the sesame has been planted, but we don’t have money to buy pesticides and we don’t have access to other resources. To help the farmers, the provisions of all of these are crucial.”
Shaista Khan, another farmer in the province, also says that nothing has been done so far in the field of agricultural growth in this province, and with each passing year, farmers suffer more and more. “We plant every year to get a good harvest, but the diseases have caused damage and we are left with nothing. We want to be helped and given some resources.”
Farmers in Sar-e-Pul demand the serious attention of authorities and aid institutions to the agricultural sector in this province.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock say that in the current year, sesame has been planted in about 1,520 hectares of agricultural land, and according to the estimation of this department, 424 tons of sesame will be harvested from it.
Abdul Qadir Vahdat, head of agriculture department, assures that in order to improve the situation of the agricultural sector in this province, farmers will be taught modern methods of agriculture. He adds: “Droughts have made farmers suffer. If there had been rains, the sesame yield would have been very high, but unfortunately, it has yielded very little this year and the farmers have suffered.”
Farmers want the provision of water needed for agriculture, the creation of standard cold storage facilities and sales markets, and the export of agricultural products to other countries.
ENDS
