Kapisa reports solid pine nut harvests of 85 tons

Kapisa’s Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock confirmed a bumper yield of pine nuts and said 85 metric tons has been harvested this year.

Officials said this year, nearly 2,000 hectares of land in the Nijrab, Tagaba and Alasay districts were used as pine nut plantations.

Homayoun Habib, head of the Kapisa Department of Agriculture, said pine nuts are traditionally processed in the province but traders generally buy the product unprocessed.

“Pine nuts is one of the most important export items of Nijrab, Alasay and Tagab districts. Every year, a large amount of pine nuts is sent from these districts to other provinces and even exported abroad as dried fruit from Afghanistan and has a special place on local and international markets,” said Habib.

The farming of pine nuts has increased dramatically over the past few years in Afghanistan after the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL)
planted hundreds of thousands of pine tree saplings over the years.

Pine trees, that yield the pine nuts, grow in mountainous eastern provinces of Afghanistan, including Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Kapisa, Kunar, Nangarhar, Nuristan and Laghman.

Newly launched air cargo routes has already encouraged farmers to harvest more pine nuts and has enabled Afghanistan to export the valuable dried fruit to other countries – and specifically to China, one of the country’s major trading partners.

According to reports, the price of 1kg of pine nuts on local markets is as much as 2,800 Afghanis [about $37].