The infant and maternal death rates in Afghanistan remain among the highest in the world, partly due to poor nutrition. Alternative crops and cropping systems are needed to provide improved nutrition for mothers and children as well as higher incomes and new markets for cash-starved Afghan farmers.

The Afghan diet relies heavily on bread from wheat.Currently, wheat prices are low and fail to provide good income for farmers. Fruits, nuts, vegetables, food legumes, forages and feedgrains are needed to support food, dairy, meat and hide production. Alternative crops and cropping systems provide employment opportunities and market niches that the major commodities cannot provide.

Table 1. Wheat production costs and income from one jerib (1/5 hectare) of land as reported by Taloqan farmer 14/3/2003.

The yield per jerib is 80 seers at 30 Afghanis each. The price of the whole straw is 100 Afghani. Thus, the total income will be 2500 Afghani per jerib; 1150 Afghanis less than the cost of production. As food and grain aid continues to pour into the region, wheat prices will drop even lower.

Vegetable seed production at the 6 agricultural research stations rehabilitated by ICARDA includes: carrots, onions, and turnips, tomatoes, and okra. Grain and legume crops include barley, new wheat varieties, faba bean, chickpea and mung bean.

Horticultural products once accounted for over 40% of Afghanistan's exports.

Enough horticultural nurseries have been planted to replace hundreds of acres of grape, fig, olive, pomegranate, almond, mulberry, apricot, peach, orange, lemon and walnut orchards. Fruit and nuts add important nutrients to Afghan diets as well as the potential for added-value products for regional and global markets. These nurseries will be self-sustaining through the sale of seed and saplings to farmers.

Potatoes are an important addition to the improved crop varieties being developed in by the International Potato Centre (CIP) of Peru, in partnership with the Future Harvest Consortium. Farmers improve their operations and income by either producing virus-free seed for sale to other farmers or by purchasing the improved seed for much higher yields. Over 750 Afghan farmers and agronomists were trained in virus-free seed production.
For more information: Dr Thomas Blake t.blake@CGIAR.ORG