A widespread infestation of the Wheat Sunn Pest (kafshak) has caused serious concern among farmers in wheat fields across Faryab Province. Field reports indicate that this year’s outbreak has increased significantly compared to previous years, severely affecting the districts of Pashtun Kot, Almar, Shirin Tagab, Chehel Gazai, Khwaja Namusi, and Qaisar.
In recent years, climate change, as one of Afghanistan’s most serious challenges, has left widespread impacts on the agriculture and livestock sectors. Reduced rainfall, rising temperatures, and continued droughts have gradually destroyed natural pastures and reduced fodder production — a situation that has seriously threatened the livelihoods of thousands of livestock-raising families, particularly in Kapisa province.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has report that mass returns, climate changes, and aid cuts push Afghanistan further into crisis.
The United Nations says that climate change, economic hardship, and job losses, compounded by rising regional tensions, have driven up prices in Afghanistan and affected food security across the country.
Grafting and propagation through cuttings are considered important and effective methods in agriculture. In Laghman province, these methods are being used to produce improved and resilient saplings from fruit trees and other plants.
Although opium poppy cultivation has been completely banned by the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, a number of residents in Badakhshan have turned to cultivating the crop again this year. Some farmers say that the lack of suitable livelihood alternatives and limited employment opportunities have forced them to continue growing opium poppy.
After several consecutive years of drought, this year’s widespread rainfall in Herat—particularly in the northern districts of the province—has brought renewed hope for increased harvests of grains and legumes. Officials from the Herat Directorate of Agriculture say that the condition of rainfed crops is relatively good, and that this year’s rainfall could mark a different season for agriculture and farmers.
A number of farmers in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province, as well as in several districts, told Salam Watandar that both surface and groundwater levels have declined significantly compared to previous years.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that humanity produces around 2.1 billion tonnes of waste each year, while air pollution alone causes approximately 8 million premature deaths.
While many orchard owners in Daikundi were expecting a productive year, continuous snowfall and rainfall in the first month of the solar year (March–April) have damaged fruit tree blossoms before they could turn into fruit, turning farmers’ hopes into serious concern.
The UN, in a post on X on Wednesday (April 22), stated that “Earth is our one and only home” and emphasized that protecting the planet is a shared responsibility wherever people live.
Several farmers in Balkh province say that, in addition to recurring drought and water shortages driven by climate change in recent years, infestations of Moroccan locusts have emerged as a new threat to their agricultural crops.
