3,100 fruit orchards grown in north in 3 months

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): More than 3,000 fruit orchards have been established over the past three months in five northern provinces under the Agriculture Ministry’s National Horticulture and Livestock Project (NHLP), an official said on Tuesday.

NHLP head in the north, Ahmad Fahim Jabbari, told Pajhwok Afghan News a total of 3100 orchards had been planted in various areas of five northern provinces over thousands of acres of land.

He said the orchards were grown on 640 acres of land in Samangan, on 450 acres in Balkh, on 175 acres in Jawzjan, 140 acres in Faryab and on 300 acres in Saripul province.

The orchards planted in Balkh included almond, apple, apricot, pomegranate, grape and others, he said, adding the trees suited Balkh’s climate.

Jabbari said the aim of growing the orchards was to improve quality and quantity of fruits produced in Afghanistan and thus decrease fruit imports.

Mohammad Anwar, a resident of the Dehdad district, told Pajhwok Afghan News he used his two and a half acres of land to grow an orchard under the NHLP.

He said the government was providing tree saplings to land owners on subsidised rate besides training them how to grow an orchard.

The World Bank-funded $118 million NHLP is being implemented nationwide until 2018. The project was launched in 2008 and so far orchards on 27,500 acres of land have been established in the north.

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