INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Farmers in Afghanistan&& 's southern province of Kandahar have actually taken a strong action towards changing poppy fields with pistachio
plantations.Local officials stated that up until now, 115 lots of pistachios have been gathered from 150 hectares of cultivated land.They
stated pistachio farming is proving to be an effective option to poppies and that the city government is striving to motivate farmers to
plant pistachio trees.Most pistachio production takes place in nations with arid climates.Turkey, Iran, Italy, and Syria are the primary
pistachio producing countries, outside the United States and pistachio nuts are grown generally for export in those countries.Trees are
likewise grown in Pakistan, Greece, India, and Australia.According to some local farmers, they tend their pistachio orchards daily and use
in between 30 and 60 workers.Some farmers in Kandahar said however that establishing a pistachio orchard was expensive and advised the
Islamic Emirate federal government to assist them.Officials from Kandahar&& 's Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock said
pistachio farming was an excellent alternative to poppy cultivation
They in turn called on former poppy farmers to consider planting pistachio trees.Pistachio trees can measure up to 300 years, but they take
5 to seven years to start producing nuts.They are alternate-bearing, suggesting that the harvest is heavier in some years than others.Peak
production is reached around 20 years.The post Kandahar farmers change poppies with pistachios first appeared on Ariana News.
