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Strawberry cultivation increases in Herat

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(Last Updated On: May 11, 2021)

Herat’s Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock says that due to favorable weather conditions and the interest of farmers, the cultivation of strawberries in this province has flourished and that currently over 100 hectares is being used to grow this popular fruit.

Bashir Ahmad Ahmadi, acting head of Herat’s agriculture department, said that with the increase in cultivated areas, it is expected that the strawberry yield in the province will exceed 150 metric tons this year.

Ahmadi says that strawberries are grown in both greenhouses and outdoors, but many farmers are now growing them in greenhouses.

Herate currently has the most strawberry farms in the country.

Strawberries, which are a good source of Vitamin C, are a sought after fruit among Afghans and currently sell for between 100 and 120 Afghanis per kilogram on local markets.

“Our production is growing every year, and this has made me more interested in increasing the cultivation of this crop,” said Reza Dehqan, head of the Paliz Sabz strawberry farm in Herat.

Dehqan has cultivated 20 hectares of land in two ways, greenhouses and open fields, and has created job opportunities for 30 people, many of whom are women.

Dehqan owns one of the largest strawberry farms in the country, from which 37% of Herat strawberries are obtained.

He said that in addition to Herat, he sells his strawberries in Nimroz, Ghazni, Farah, Kandahar and Badghis provinces. Interest in strawberries has in turn grown in these provinces, he said.

This sector has also meanwhile attracted women and most strawberry farms in Herat employ them.

“We are ten women harvesting and packing in this greenhouse, which has improved our living conditions,” said Maryam, who works on a strawberry farm in Enjil district.

“Strawberries are a lucrative crop,” says Zarghoneh, another farmer.

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Ministry of commerce allocates land for oil refineries

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(Last Updated On: March 14, 2024)

Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi, said in a meeting with oil refinery officials that as soon as they are ready to invest, the ministry will establish an oil and gas industrial park.

In this meeting, refinery officials discussed problems regarding the Qashqari oil field and agreed that land should be provided. They said oil extracted from Qashqari needed to be refined through the standard process.

Azizi, while announcing the cooperation and support of the Islamic Emirate and especially the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the private sector of the country, said: “A joint proposal should be arranged and submitted to this ministry for the land of the refineries, and also if the officials of the refineries are ready to invest in the area of Dara-e-Hairatan, an oil and gas industrial park will be created and the land will be placed under their control.”

Azizi emphasized the need to increase the capacity of existing refineries and the quality of oil, shared the decision of the High Economic Commission regarding the establishment of a large refinery.

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Pakistan’s Federal Secretary of Commerce invited to visit Kabul

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(Last Updated On: March 11, 2024)

Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, has invited Pakistan’s Federal Secretary of Commerce Mohammad Khurram Agha to visit Kabul.

In a virtual meeting, the two sides discussed the progress made in the last two and a half years in the country, the increase in trade between the two countries, solving problems and removing trade and transit barriers.

They also discussed the need for more facilities, establishing close relations between the governments and private sectors of the two countries and boosting regional cooperation, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said in a statement Monday.

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Headline inflation in Afghanistan down to -10.2% in January: World Bank

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(Last Updated On: March 11, 2024)

In January 2024, headline inflation experienced a significant downturn, reaching -10.2 percent on a year-on-year basis, the World Bank said in a report.

This substantial drop was largely due to a sharp decline in prices across both food and non-food categories, the report said.

Moreover, core inflation, which strips out the typically volatile food and energy sectors, also fell into negative territory, posting a rate of -6.5 percent on year-on-year basis.

“This ongoing core deflation reflects a troubling inability of both private and public sectors to stimulate sufficient demand. While this period of falling prices may offer temporary financial relief to the most vulnerable households by reducing the cost of living, it can also harm the broader macroeconomy,” the World Bank said.

According to the bank, Afghanistan’s exports contracted by 5 percent on year-on-year basis to $140.5 million in January 2024, down from $148.1 million the previous January.

Food exports to India jumped by 22 percent, compared to an 18 percent decline in Pakistan. Pakistan and India continued to be the top export destinations, claiming 45 percent and 34 percent of the total exports in January 2024, respectively.

The 2023 growth trend in imports extended into January 2024, hitting $830 million, up 37 percent from $600 million in January 2023.

According to the report, in 2023, the afghani (AFN) saw a significant 27 percent appreciation against the US dollar, buoyed by the influx of around $1.8 billion in UN cash shipments and an estimated $2 billion in remittances.

Revenues have been below the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) target during the first eleven months of FY2024, with border taxes underperforming despite a surge in imports.

Over the eleven-month span of FY2024, from March 22, 2023, to February 21, 2024, Afghanistan’s revenue collection reached AFN 189 billion, narrowly missing the target by 2 percent but marking a 5.6 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, the report said.

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