Several grape farmers in Koh e Daman, near the Afghan capital Kabul, have expressed serious concerns over falling crop prices, a lack of cold storage facilities and limited access to international markets.
Farmers say a sharp decline in prices in domestic markets has forced them to sell their produce at extremely low rates, leaving them unable to recover even their production costs.
According to Afghan media, economic experts have warned that a severe shortage of quality cold storage facilities and limited access to international markets have significantly reduced opportunities to sell produce, resulting in a substantial decline in farmers’ incomes in Koh e Daman and other parts of Afghanistan.
Gul Ahmad, a grape orchard owner from Farza district of Kabul, said falling market prices in recent years had forced him to sell his crop to traders at extremely low rates, failing to cover even the expenses incurred during cultivation.
Explaining the situation, he said he had hired daily-wage labourers, purchased fertilisers and spent around 400,000 Afghanis on digging a deep well to address water shortages and maintain his orchard at the beginning of the year.
However, after harvesting his grapes, he was forced to sell his entire crop of 560 kilogrammes to traders for just 4,000 Afghanis, an amount that did not come close to covering his expenses.
“If I had not sold the grapes, they would have rotted there. On the other hand, cold storage facilities are extremely limited, and the cost of storing produce is very high. In fact, there is not even a single operational cold storage facility across Koh e Daman,” he said.
He added that when trade routes with Pakistan remained open in the past, he could sell his grapes at considerably better prices. However, the current price decline and restricted access to markets have pushed him and other farmers into severe economic hardship.
“In the past, when routes through Pakistan were open, I could sell each kharwar (560 kilogrammes) of grapes for between 20,000 and 30,000 Afghanis. But now, despite all the hard work and heavy expenses, I am forced to sell my crop at extremely low prices. We have become deeply frustrated with all this fruitless and unrewarding labour,” he said.
Another resident of Koh e Daman told Afghan media about the financial burden on farmers and taxes imposed by the Taliban, saying that 30 rupees are charged on every sack of grapes passing through the Khair Khana Pass, while an additional 50 rupees are collected directly from the farmer.
He added that some people had been compelled to turn their grapes into raisins, but they are now struggling to find buyers for those as well.
The farmers strongly criticised Afghan Taliban’s biased policies towards Pakistan and their evil designs of nurturing Fitna-al-Khawarij on Afghan soil for disrupting the peace of Pakistan. They yearned for the good days when their fruit had easy access to Pakistani markets.
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