Hello,
It is a long story of why I know this, but The FAO (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations) did a survey of horticulture in
Afghanistan in 2003. The results are online here:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5163e/y5163e00.htm
It is fascinating, really.
In the late 70's, hort was 40% of the economy, and Afghanistan. I think
it also said that in the 1970's Afghanistan was the world's top producer
of dried apricots.
If you have a few minutes, pour yourself a cup of coffee and click
through. There are a lot of photos and easy-to-understand figures.
I read elsewhere that due to lack of resources, many grape growers are
not putting up trellises--the vines just sort of crawl across the
ground, which is obviously not optimal.
There's a group called Roots of Peace that is doing a lot of
horticultural work over there:
http://www.rootsofpeace.org/programs/countries/afghanistan/index.html
Fleming, William wrote:
I truly hope this isn’t a common practice in Afghanistan, but it was
relayed to me by a fellow who volunteers with a group that plants trees
in Afghanistan.
I believe it to be true as wild as it sounds.
Irrigation canals in Afghanistan have been used much like the trenches
of WWI and have been bombed to the point of uselessness for decades. As
a result there is a whole generation of Afghanis who don’t have a clue
about farming.
Here’s the part that’s hard to believe, they thought that honey bees
sucked the “energy” out of fruit tree flowers resulting in small fruit
or no fruit. To combat this they staged a full on war to destroy wild
bee colonies. Poor crops more likely were caused by a lack of pollination.
Convincing them otherwise was a major endeavor but hopefully sunk in.
Can’t always assume that the things we take for granted as common
knowledge to apply elsewhere.
**/Bill Fleming/**
**/Montana/****/ State University/**
**/Western Ag Research Center/**
**/580 Quast Ln/**
**/Corvallis/****/, MT 59828/**
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* apple-crop@virtualorchard.net
[mailto:apple-c...@virtualorchard.net] *On Behalf Of *Michael Vaughn
*Sent:* Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:32 AM
*To:* Apple-Crop
*Subject:* Re: Apple-Crop: Apples in Afghanistan
I would agree that agriculture leading to more food to eat locally would
help any nation. However our government (State Department) might not be
the best vehicle for that effort.
The last two years the state dep't has supplied afghan opium farmers
with wheat seed and fertilizer for acreage trading in hopes they would
expand acreage for crops and reduce Opium production. The reports from
the UN and other's show the afghan's did in fact reduce the acreage used
for Opium. However the fertilizer was used to improve the reduced Opium
fields and increase the overall Opium Production (Volume). The wheat
was grown in limited production.
So the question is how do you reduce the thousand's of years of
traditional Opium Production while promoting food based agriculture?
Especially at taxpayer expense!
On 1/13/10, *Bill Shoemaker* <wshoe...@illinois.edu
<mailto:wshoe...@illinois.edu>> wrote:
I have a colleague who just returned from Afganistan. He was very happy
with his service there. He feels he's contributing to the effort to
build a stable society. They may make more money with drug crops but
they have neigbors who need to eat.
Bill
Happy New Year to all,
I read an interesting piece on Reuters News
yesterday. I see that some more US agricultural
advisors will be sent to Afghanistan, though I
wonder if it is realistic to suggest to farmers
there that nuts and apples will give higher returns
than opium. I'm sure that I am preaching to the
converted here when I suggest that apple growing is
hardly a highly profitable venture.
Con Traas
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-45331820100112
KABUL (Reuters) - Interrupted by the occasional
whirring of military helicopters overhead, the U.S.
agriculture chief sipped pomegranate juice with
Afghan farmers, who told him not enough
international aid was getting through.
Wrapping up a three-day visit to Afghanistan on
Tuesday, Tom Vilsack met the farmers -- representing
pomegranate and apple growers -- at an fruit juice
export plant in Kabul, part funded by the United
States which has made agriculture the biggest
non-security priority in the country.
Seated outside, the farmers complained of lack of
credit facilities -- something Vilsack is looking
into -- and problems in the entire farming chain,
from acquiring seeds to a lack of refrigeration and
getting goods to market during a war.
"We hear of pledges of funding but we have not seen
anything yet," said Haji Ghulam Dastageen, an apple
and apricot farmer from Paktia province. "We are
looking forward to getting assistance from the
international community and from the (agriculture)
ministry," he added via a translator.
Vilsack, who pointed to the U.S.-funded juice
factory behind him as proof of U.S. commitment,
later announced an additional $20 million in aid to
help improve Afghanistan's agriculture ministry
deliver services to farmers.
"After decades of conflict, Afghanistan lacks many
of the personnel and knowledge resources needed to
deliver much-needed services to its people, more
than 80 percent of whom rely on agriculture for
wages and sustenance," he said at a news conference
announcing the funds.
Last year, the United States spent about $300
million on agriculture projects in Afghanistan and
projected spending this year is more than $400
million. Vilsack also promised to send more U.S.
agricultural advisors.
The hope is that funds spent bolstering
Afghanistan's agriculture ministry will improve
delivery of services to the country's farmers and
thus boost confidence in central government and draw
support away from the Taliban.
FARMER-TO-FARMER
A farm owner himself, Vilsack peppered the Afghan
farmers with questions from how they got their water
to what they needed in terms of credit facilities
and packaging to protect goods currently bruised en
route to market.
The United States and other allies are looking at a
range of credit options for farmers in the hope they
can wean many from growing opium poppy, which fuels
the Taliban insurgency.
The goal is to provide up-front funds for wheat but
also higher-value products such as table grapes,
nuts and apples in the hope they will get better
returns than opium. Afghanistan produces nearly all
of the world's opium, used to make heroin.
"We are looking forward to receiving loans ... we
also want low interest," said Haji Yaseen, another
apple grower from Paktia province.
"Farmers everywhere want that," laughed Vilsack, a
former governor from the U..S. farming state of Iowa.
The Obama administration has promised to present a
list of credit options to the Afghan agriculture
ministry by March. The plan is to offer credit
facilities like those given to farmers in the United
States, who get low-interest loans.
"How do you pay for your imports? Would you use a
banking system?," Vilsack asked the farmers, who all
nodded.
When U.S. President Barack Obama announced his new
strategy to send in 30,000 more troops to
Afghanistan, he also promised a civilian "surge,"
including additional agricultural advisors to
overhaul an industry devastated by decades of war.
"President Obama ... understands that the future of
your country is on this table," said Vilsack,
pointing to a table laden with nuts, apples and
pomegranates, many of which he sampled.
"I look forward to going back to Washington with
your messages and to give as much help as we
possibly can," Vilsack told the farmers. "I can
assure you that I'm going to be a consumer of
pomegranates from now on."
(Editing by Peter Graff and Sanjeev Miglani)
(c) Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
William H Shoemaker, UI-Crop Sciences
Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
St Charles Horticulture Research Center
535 Randall Road St Charles, IL 60174
630-584-7254; FAX-584-4610
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Owner / Manager
Pie-In-the-Sky Orchards
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Megan Kennelly
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Dept of Plant Pathology
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Manhattan, KS 66506
phone: 785-532-1387
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