Irrigation tools distributed to farmers in northeast

KABUL (Pajhwok): As many as 370 sets of irrigation tools, including water tanks, pipes and water pumps, were distributed to orchard owners in northeastern provinces, an official said on Saturday.

Eng. Mohammad Ghulam Mullakhel, coordinator of the Agriculture Ministry’s National Horticulture and Livestock Project (NHLP), said 45 sets of tools were distributed to orchard owners in Kunduz, 150 in Takhar, 170 in Baghlan and five in Badakhshan.

The free tools were distributed to farmers who irrigated their high-altitude orchards by using electricity or fuel. Such sets would be distributed to orchard owners, with the beneficiaries contributing only 25 percent of the cost, he said, informing farmers were being trained on how to use the tools.

Farmers, who received the materials, expressed happiness and said the tools would enable them to irrigate their orchards with much ease.

Hamidullah, a grower in Kunduz, said he would face numerous problems during summer while irrigating his orchards. The tools would help him overcome water scarcity without further cost.

Funded by the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), the NHLP project has been launched nationwide to strengthen irrigation by building water reservoirs and improving women’s economy through building greenhouses for them.

ra/ma/mud

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