This year’s grape harvest showed 28 percent increase over last year’s produce in northern Samangan province, an official said on Monday.
Mohammad Osman Hanafi, the provincial agriculture director, told Pajhwok Afghan News that this year’s grape produce reached 32,000 metric tons and 75 percent of the fruit was exported to Pakistan.
He said Firuz Nakhchir and Hazrat Sultan districts of the province have 7,400 acres of vineyards.
According to him, the agriculture department’s study shows the grape production of these two districts last year was about 25,000 metric tons but this year it reached 32,000 metric tons.
He also noted that the total value of this year’s grape harvest in the province was estimated at 960 million afghanis against last year’s about 625 million afghanis.
He said growers sold one kilogram of grapes for an average price of 25 afghanis last year while this year’s price was 30 afghanis and the quality of grapes was also better than last year’s due to the lack of plant diseases.
Gul Mohammad, a grower in Hazrat Sultan district, said he earned 840,000 afghanis from his vineyard this year and last year his income from was 600,000 afghanis.
Dr. Nusratullah, a grapes trader said about 75 percent of Samangan grapes have been exported to Pakistan so far this year.
Satisfied with the market, he said this year he sold 630 metric tons of grapes in domestic and Pakistani markets.
