Sar-e-Pul, Afghanistan - Onion farmers warned they would return to growing poppy if the government does not find markets for their products

Farmers in the northern Afghan province of Sar-e-Pul asked the government to help them find markets to sell their agricultural products. Currently the farmers sell their products, particularly the onions, for less than the cost of growing the crop. Farmers said this year there has been a significant rise in the onion crop in the province. They also warned they would return to growing poppy if the government does not find markets for their products. “There is a significant increase in crops, but there is no market, what should we do with all these products,” said one farmer in Sar-e-Pul. “The Ministry of Agriculture should solve our problems, we do not have storage areas to keep the produce,” said Obaidullah, a resident in Beshka village in Sar-e-Pul. “We travelled to Sar-e-Pul several times, now we are in Kabul and want to assess the problems,” said Ghulam Sakhi Attayee, a member of the Sar-e-Pul farmers union. The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation & Livestock has said that the government will help the farmers. “We are planning the establishment of storage areas in Sar-e-Pul, soon they will be operational,” said Akbar Rustami, a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation & Livestock. Farmers in Sar-e-Pul are expected to harvest more than 7,000 metric tons of onions this year. Farmers said that onions from neighboring countries are still flooding into to Afghanistan despite the country’s own sufficient onions.
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