Afghanistan produces 4.54 million tons of wheat; Cultivation decline and shortage of 2.33 million tons

The National Statistics and Information Administration announced that in 1404 solar year, about 4.54 million metric tons of wheat were produced across the country, of which 4.13 million tons were irrigated and 404,000 tons were rainfed.

Using remote sensing technology and satellite imagery, the department established the areas under wheat cultivation and reported that the total area under wheat cultivation was 1.89 million hectares, of which 1.33 million hectares were irrigated and 562,000 hectares were rainfed.

According to the findings, the highest production of irrigated wheat was in Helmand provinces (848,000 tons), Kunduz (478,000 tons), Herat (more than 410,000 tons), Kandahar (more than 366,000 tons), and Farah (nearly 237,000 tons).

The Statistics Department noted that there was a 4% decrease in irrigated agriculture and a 24% decrease in rainfed agriculture compared to last year, the main factors being drought, lack of timely rainfall, and the spread of plant pests.

Given the country’s estimated need for 6.87 million tons of wheat, this year’s production shows a deficit of about 2.33 million tons.