370,000 Tons Potatoes will be produced in Bamyan This Year

Officials at Bamyan Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Directorate said that estimates show 370,000 tons of potatoes will be produced in the province this year. According to officials, previously the figures was 350,000 tons per year.

Abdul Wahab Mohammadi, provincial agriculture director, said that 17,000-18,000 hectares of land is being cultivated potatoes annually, but unfortunately last year due to the drought and shortage of water, the yields were slightly down. This year there is enough water and promising precipitation, resulting in increase of the yields.

Mr. Mohammadi added, “Although the harvest season is not over, we are hoping that the harvest will be up to 370,000 tons.”

The provincial agriculture director said that construction of small and big storage facilities by the Ministry of Agriculture for farmers has also helped to increase the production and yields of the crops.

Abdul Wahab Mohammadi said that over the past five years 3,600 potato storage facilities have been built in Bamyan province. He emphasized that each of the facility has the capacity of storing 20 tons of potatoes on average.

According to Mr. Mohammadi, they work on 36 varieties of potatoes in ‘Mullah Ghulam Research Farm’ in the province.

Production and cultivation of potatoes with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture have flourished in the province, urging more farmers to cultivate the crop.

Potato is cultivated and produced in most areas of Bamyan, the major areas where potato is cultivated are the provincial capital as well as Yakawolang and Shebar districts.

Provincial agriculture director said that with better efforts made by the Ministry of Agriculture, Bamyan can produce up to 500,000 tons of potatoes in future annually.

According to Bamyan Agriculture Directorate, some 90 percent of Bamyan potato is exported to other provinces. Bamyan's main sales markets are in Kabul, northern and eastern provinces as well as the country's capital.

In Bamyan, some 50,000 farmers are busy cultivating potatoes. Bamyan is a major producer of potato in Afghanistan.

According to Mr. Wahab, Afghanistan consumes nearly 1,100,000 tons of potatoes annually, of which nearly 600,000 tons are produced domestically.