KUNDUZ CITY - The harvests of fruits, grain, and wheat have increased in northern Kunduz province, said the Agriculture Directorate of Kunduz.
Kunduz is one of the well-known provinces of the country which previously was known as the “the hive of Afghanistan’” and the center of grains.
However, insecurity in recent years had negatively affected agriculture in addition to other industries.
Despite the existence of insecurity and war, the agricultural products have increased 20 percent compared to the previous years. 
“The suitable weather and the on-time raining resulted in the increase of the agricultural products like fruits and grains in Kunduz,” said Wahid Batash, the Agriculture Director of Kunduz.
According to the gardeners in Kunduz, though the harvests are good this year, the lack of official’s attention to improve the gardeners’ conditions and the absence of a proper market for selling the harvests are the main problem of the gardeners.
They said that 7 kilograms of the fruits like peach, black cherry, and apricot are sold around four US dollars.
“The apricot of Kunduz is the best apricot but the government is weak in terms of providing the opportunity for exporting the Kunduz fruits to other provinces,” said Ajmal, a gardener in Kunduz.
In addition, the officials said that the several pests were threatening the wheat and several harmful insects were threatening the fruits but as a result of the measurements taken by the Agriculture Directorate and partner organization, the threats were solved. (ATN)