Apple growers in Afghanistan’s southern Ghazni province say the fruit's yield has significantly increased this year compared to previous years. Still, prices are low amid lack of cold storages. So although they are happy about the increased yield, they claim revenues will not even cover the expenses on the orchards.
An orchard owner in the Wazir Abad area of Ghazni city said he harvested 42 tons of apples from his orchard, higher than previous years, but that prices were low. Another grower urged the government to build cold storages to help farmers preserve their harvests. “If we had cold storages, we would have been supplying the fruit to markets according to the demand of consumers and orchard owners would not have incurred losses”, he said.
The orchardists want relevant authorities to build cold storages and find good market for their produce to solve their economic problems.
