Opium instead of fruits.. Afghanistan farmers change production

Abdul Hamid, for example, who is a farmer, removed hundreds of pomegranate trees from his fields, south of AfghanistanAfter he decided to make way for the poppy flower, especially since his land was suffering from drought.

And he did this farmer Al-Afghani, by removing nearly 800 pomegranate trees from his fields in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, thus removing the trees and transforming the place that was abundant to what looks like a wood cemetery and scattered grains of fruit.

“There is no water, no water,” says Hamid, who is 80 years old cropsHe explained that the lack of rain made it impossible to secure the required irrigation for trees, adding that the lack of water led to the spoilage of an important share of this year’s crops.

But Abdul Hamid is only one of many Afghan farmers, who complain about the decline in crops and their tight financial conditions, in addition to closing the borders and security tension, while opium cultivation is an important engine of the economy in this region.

According to data issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghanistan accounts for more than 80 percent of the world’s opium supply.

encouraging factors

Afghan farmers are turning to opium, because this plant does not perish within a short period, if it is not sold, and does not require a high level of water for irrigation, similar to the pomegranate.

Moreover, opium smuggling does not need open borders, because it is transported abroad by gangs and organized networks, using their usual methods.

Farmers say pomegranate was more profitable than opium, but the situation has changed a lot in light of the drought and the cross-border export crisis after the Taliban came to power.

Experts believe that the crisis in Afghanistan portends a significant increase in opium production and smuggling activities, and this season may be just a prelude to what comes next.

The switch to opium comes while the Arghandib region was one of the prominent production points for the pomegranate fruit, and it even exported it to Pakistan, India and countries in the Persian Gulf.

But exporting abroad is no longer easy after restrictions were imposed on the borders and air navigation after the Taliban movement came to power last August.

As for the situation on the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is volatile and unstable, because the borders are sometimes open and sometimes closed, and this confusion has been a disaster for the Afghan pomegranate farmers, because they can no longer find anyone to buy crops from them.

The production of the narcotic plant in Afghanistan has increased continuously in recent years, despite the spending of billions of dollars by the United States and other parties to contain this activity.

Figures issued by the United Nations indicate that the area of ​​land planted with drug production plants in Afghanistan reached 224,000 hectares in 2020, which means that it increased by 37 percent compared to 2019.