KABUL - The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) said a whopping 2,490 metric tons of honey was produced in the country in the 1399 solar year.
Paktia tops the list with 899 tons of honey, followed by Nangarhar with 500 tons and Khost with 416 tons while Herat, Laghman, Badakhshan, Kunduz and Bamyan are also among the main honey producing provinces.
Currently, there are 6,757 large and small beekeeping farms across the country, with most of them located in Badghis, Herat, Badakhshan, Paktia, Kunduz, Daikundi, Bamyan, Logar, Sar-e-Pul, Farah, Maidan Wardak, Kapisa, Takhar, Baghlan and Khost provinces.
Badghis with 722, Herat with 593, Paktia with 550 and Badakhshan with 526 beekeeping farms are at the top of the beekeeping table.
Beekeeping is growing as a lucrative business and honey produced sells well on both the domestic and foreign markets.
One kilo of pure honey is sold locally for between 500 and 2,000 AFN.
Last year’s honey production was a sharp increase of 390 tons of honey produced against 1398, which ended at 2,100 tons for the solar year. (ATN)