Afghanistan has shipped 12 tonnes of apples to India, marking an important step in efforts to rebuild the war torn country’s agricultural sector.
Nine tonnes of the fruit were sent by road into New Delhi and the other three via Air India, the AFP reported.
Afghanistan’s agriculture minister Mohammed Asif Rahimi told a media conference in Kabul that 400 tonnes of apples would be exported to India this year.
Decades of war have taken a heavy toll on the country’s agriculture, and many farmers had shifted from horticulture to more lucrative opium production, encouraged by Afghanistan’s former Taliban regime.
Mr Rahimi said fruit exports were now providing opium growers with an attractive alternative as stability returned.
Afghan farmers are also pleased, with their exported apples fetching up to US$2 per kg, almost four times what they would in the domestic market.
