Citing officials in Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, UkrAgroConsult reported on July 4 that five million tons of wheat has been harvested in Afghanistan so far this year, one million tons more than last year.
According to some source, Afghanistan last year produced 4.5 million tons of wheat.
Meanwhile according to data from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, 5.018 million tons of wheat was harvested in Afghanistan from 2.046 million ha last year; average wheat yield was 2.5 tons/ha.
The ministry reportedly plans to cultivate wheat in fields that have not been cultivated before.
“According to the decree of Amir al-Momenin (IEA leaser) issued last year, poppy cultivation was stopped and the Ministry of Agriculture directed the farmers to plant wheat in order to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production. Therefore, more wheat was cultivated,” Misbahuddin Mustain, the spokesman of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, was cited as saying.
Officials in the country’s Agriculture and Livestock Chamber reportedly say Afghanistan’s annual requirements in wheat are 6.5 to 7.5 million tons.
They call on the government to produce wheat in the country by creating large, medium, and small water canals and managing the country’s waters, according to UkrAgroConsult.
“Afghanistan is an agricultural country. Unfortunately, we had more imports in Afghanistan because we had problems. Fortunately, with the construction of Kamal Khan Dam, Qosh Tepa Canal, Shah wa Arous Dam, and other dams, we can achieve self-sufficiency,” Mirwais Hajizada, deputy head of the Agriculture and Livestock Chamber, was cited as saying.
It is to be noted that to meet its annual requirements in flour Afghanistan buys wheat flour in other countries, including Turkiye, Russia, Uzbekistan.
In the past, a significant amount of wheat flour came to Afghanistan from Pakistan, but since 2019, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have provided the bulk of Afghanistan’s flour imports. In 2022, Kazakhstan accounted for 63 percent of Afghanistan’s flour imports and Uzbekistan accounted for 36 percent of its flour imports.
As far as Central Asia’s nations are concerned, last year’s wheat productions in the region were as follow: Kazakhstan – 16.5 million tons; Uzbekistan – 7.6 million tons; Turkmenistan – 1.6 million tons; Tajikistan – 0.9 million ton; and Kyrgyzstan – 0.7 million ton.
