Watermelon; Second fruit in terms of more production

Saratan 21: July 12, 2021
Statistics from Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), show that watermelon has the highest production in the country after grapes. According to these statistics, more than 66,000 hectares of land were cultivated with watermelon last year, of which 990,318 metric tons were obtained.
Nimroz, Farah and Badghis are the main producers of watermelon in the country. Nimroz province witnessed the harvest of 150,892 tons last year, Farah 137,207 tons and Badghis 113,051 metric tons of watermelon.
This year, despite the drought in most provinces, watermelon production was good, but war and insecurity prevented these crops from being harvested properly.
A number of farmers in Nimroz, Kunduz, Farah, Herat, Kandahar, Balkh and Badghis say they have not been able to harvest properly due to the war. These peasants are worried about the corruption of their crops.
Mohammad Ismail, a resident of Farah provincial capital, said,” Watermelon crop was good this year despite the drought and water shortages, but lack of security and a market had lowered the price. The price of a kilogram of watermelon has reached to four AFN.”
Officials of agriculture directorate confirmed that insecurity has made it difficult to transport the crop to other provinces.