Balkh farmers report poor grape harvests this year

A number of grape growers in Balkh district of Balkh province say due to the cold weather last year, their harvests decreased this year.

Lack of water, high price of chemical fertilizers and lack of cold storage are other problems of these gardeners.

“We ask the agriculture department to help us with fertilizer and our garden [vine support structures] are very damaged,” said one of the gardeners in Balkh.

“The grape yield is lower than previous years. We ask the agriculture department to help us with chemical fertilizers,” said another gardener.

Officials in Balkh Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock confirm these challenges, saying that they are trying to find a suitable market for various fruits by establishing cold storage units so that grapes and other fruits can be exported outside the country.

Local officials added that they are trying to support farmers more in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture.

“This year, unfortunately, we have very low grape yields due to the cold weather,” said Mohammad Hussain Azimi, General Director of Balkh Agriculture Promotion.

According to statistics, in the past years, more than 20 tons of grapes were obtained from each hectare of the vineyard, and this year there has been an 80 percent decrease in the yield of grapes.