Program to further strengthen Afghanistan’s agricultural sector

Karl W. Eikenberry, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan

Today in Kabul, United States Ambassador Karl Eikenberry told reporters that the United States and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL) have signed an agreement where 260,000 small commercial farmers in Afghanistan, some of them women, will be provided with subsidized access to 13,000 metric tons of certified wheat seed varieties and nearly 40,000 metric tons of basic fertilizer.

“Farmers will also receive agricultural technical advice to gain the optimum benefit from the seeds and fertilizer. With the hope for a good season, the potential harvest from these quality inputs could yield more than 300,000 metric tons of wheat”, said the U.S. Ambassador.

Funding for the project, which is about $90 million has been provided mostly by the U.S. ($62 million). The rest comes from Japan, France and Britain.

October 5, 2010 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Reconstruction and Development