The Agriculture Department has started distributing about one million fruit saplings to create orchards and keep the environment green in central Bamyan province.
Abdul Wahab Mohammad, Bamyan agriculture, irrigation and livestock director, said farmers in Punjab, Yakawlang and Bamyan City would receive 310,000 fruit saplings and 800,000 other plants.
He said about 200 acres of land would be planted with cherries, 200 acres with walnuts, 200 acres with apricot and 600 acres with Turkish apple. The initiative will improve agriculture in Bamyan.
Each farmer would receive 60 fruit saplings, the agriculture director said, adding about 20,000 tons of apples, apricots and plums were sold in markets across the country last year.
Mohammad Nazir, a farmer from Khwal Yaki village, said he planned to set up an orchard. The saplings he received could not be found in Bamyan and were imported from foreign countries.
He praised the services provided by the Agriculture Department for farmers and welcomed the distribution of saplings, which would contribute the greenery of the province.