RASC News Agency: The national officials of the Taliban group for Samangan province in the north of the country confirm that the production of almonds in this province has decreased by 60% compared to last year.
Abdul Khalil Karimi, the director of agricultural affairs of the Samangan Agriculture Department of the Taliban group, announced that the production of almonds in this province was 4,600 tons last year, and this year this figure has decreased to 2,000 tons.
Mr. Karimi emphasized that based on the statistics that have been collected and analyzed, the production of almonds in Samangan province this year has decreased by 60% compared to last year.
Although he says that more than 4,500 hectares of almond land have yielded, but due to the cold weather and the increase in pests and natural diseases, most of these yields have been lost.
A number of farmers and horticulturists in Samangan province, while expressing concern about the decrease in their yields, have also criticized the actions of the local officials of the Taliban group in this field.
Although they accept the cold weather and the presence of pests and diseases in reducing almond yields, they emphasized that the Taliban did not have any plan for gardeners to solve these problems.
Lack of agricultural water, lack of chemical fertilizers, and lack of advanced equipment and facilities to control almond yields are other factors that play a role in reducing its yield.
These farmers and gardeners say that when agricultural pests and diseases appeared in Samangan, the Taliban group could not even provide the anti-pest medicine to the gardeners.
They still believe that the Taliban have failed in providing agricultural facilities and equipment as well as providing chemical fertilizers to farmers.
It should be mentioned that there are different types of almonds in Samangan, and now each kilogram of Samangan almonds is bought and sold in the markets from 300 to 700 Kabuli/Afghani rupees.
