Business
Agriculture minister says sector will only grow if its mechanized
Afghanistan’s agricultural sector will only develop once the industry has been mechanized, the minister of agriculture and livestock said on Wednesday.
Speaking at an event to mark Farming Day, at one of Afghanistan’s research farms, Ataullah Omari said that although Afghanistan is an agricultural country, there are many problems in this sector.
“Unless farmers, investors and members of the research center of the agriculture sector work in coordination with each other, the country’s agricultural system cannot have a positive result. We have started efforts to increase coordination and use seeds that have been analyzed and certified in the country in order to achieve self-sufficiency in terms of wheat and other agricultural products,” Omar said.
Other officials from the ministry said they are providing farmers with approved seed in order to help them increase their yields. Currently, the ministry has promoted 46 types of certified seeds.
“We have a high capacity in the analysis and certification of agricultural products, and various international organizations cooperate with us in this area. We hope that the ministry will distribute land for the development of research farms,” Nusratullah Talha, head of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, said.
Data shows that Afghanistan needs 6.3 million metric tons of wheat annually, and it is expected that 5.2 million metric tons of wheat will be harvested in the country this year.
According to experts, if farmers do not use domestically certified seed, the grain shortage problem in the country will worsen.
“We need years of work in the regulation of the seed certification sector, and we are active in this sector, but farmers still do not use certified seeds,” said Mohammad Qasim Obadi, a university professor.
The agriculture and livestock sector in Afghanistan is still largely conducted traditionally and despite opportunities offered over the years to invest in agriculture, not much attention was paid to this sector.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, met with representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs, defense and interior of Malaysia, along with other senior officials, on Wednesday and called on Malaysians to invest in Afghanistan.
The visiting delegation is being led by senior diplomat Dr. Shazelina Zainul Abidin.
According to the IEA’s foreign ministry, the two sides discussed bilateral trade, holding a business communication conference to strengthen trade relations between the two countries, the trade balance between Afghanistan and Malaysia, and creating a market for Afghan products, including carpets, cotton, and minerals.
According to the ministry, at the end of the meeting, the Acting Minister emphasized the increase of investment from regional countries in Afghanistan and called on Malaysian investors to also invest in Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Interior says that Afghanistan has started exporting goods to Turkey via the Herat-Khaf railway line.
In a post on X, the ministry said: “Afghanistan’s exports to Turkey started in a calm atmosphere through the Herat-Khaf railway line.”
The ministry added that one train will run daily for a month and then two trains will run daily.
According to the ministry, the security of Khaf-Herat railway line is provided by the guards of the National Public Protection Agency.
Khaf-Herat railway project not only connects Iran and Afghanistan by rail, but also completes a 2,000-kilometer route along the east-west rail corridor from China, through Uzbekistan, to Afghanistan, to Iran, and on to Turkey and Europe.
As a landlocked country, this railway network will provide a safe route to connect with Europe via Iran’s railway network and Iran’s southern ports.
This railway line is strategic for trade between Iran and Afghanistan and will allow six million tons of goods to be sent between the two countries.
A joint expo between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan will be held in Kabul in the next four days, officials said on Sunday.
Officials of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that the two-day expo will be held for the purpose of expanding and strengthening trade relations between the two countries.
“This expo will be held as a follow-up of the Kazakh-Afghan international expo, which was held in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan, with the participation of a large delegation of the government and the private sector of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” Abdulsalam Javad Akhundzadeh, the spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said.
“At this expo, domestic products from different sectors of Afghanistan and the Republic of Kazakhstan will be put on display for two days.”
According to officials, 40 large Kazakh companies, and 40 large Afghan companies will exhibit their products.
Mohammad Saber Latifi, head of the Afghanistan International Expo Center, said that fruits, minerals and commercial services will be displayed at the expo.
During the expo, various memorandums of understanding for the trade of goods are also expected to be signed by companies.
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