An Afghan farmer, with his brothers, has started farming with ostriches in the western Afghan province of Herat. Mr. Ahmad Sharifi, said he will soon start selling ostrich meat on the open market. According to him, they started the farm with only a few breeding ostriches but their numbers have grown very quickly. “We can breed 40 to 50 chicks from every female ostrich annually. In addition to this, we can sell other products such ostrich eggs, meat, oil and skin to the market,” said the Herat farmer. He eplained they had brought in special incubators for the eggs in order to hatch chicks. These incubators can hold about 450 eggs at a time. “We bought two incubators and each one has the capacity to hold about 450 eggs. We want to expand our farm in Herat and in other provinces,” a shareholder of the ostrich farm said. The farmers invested USD 50,000 in the farm, but they say their investment has now doubled. Meanwhile, Herat’s agriculture, irrigation and livestock department said a number of these ostriches will be moved to other provinces in order to start up ostrich farming around the country. “We will do our best and will use all our equipment to support the ostrich farm and expand it in Herat,” the head of the agriculture expansion department of Herat’s agriculture directorate said.
