By Abdul Haleem

PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, June 26 (Xinhua) -- "I used to earn 20,000 afghanis (260 U.S. dollars) annually from my two acres of farmland six years ago, but now I'm earning 400,000 afghanis (5,200 U.S. dollars) each year," Amanullah, a farmer from the Andarab district of Afghanistan's Baghlan province said with delight.

Thanks to new agricultural machinery, he has been able to earn this amount over the past three years. he said.

Conflict-battered Afghanistan is largely an agricultural country. According to officials, about 80 percent of the country's 32.5 million population are dependent on agriculture, animal husbandry and horticultural products.

However, the agriculture and horticultural infrastructure like other national institutions have been badly damaged due to decades of war.

The government has been trying to revive the agriculture and husbandry infrastructure by introducing new machinery, improved seeds, chemical fertilizer and saplings to the farmers.

Amanullah told Xinhua that in the past, he used traditional farming methods such as using an ox to plough his land. But recently he replaced the slow moving animal with a tractor, with better quality seeds also helping boost his and other farmers' output.

Sitting atop of his tractor, the father of six said, "to be frank, I am much happier than I was in the past, because I now have a variety of fruits and vegetables I can grow on my land."

He said he can now also grow saffron rice on his land, some of which is eaten by his family, while the rest being sold at the market.

"Replacing oxen with tractors and with the introduction of new farming systems helping the horticulture industry to develop, many farmers' living conditions have improved in this area," Amanullah said joyfully.

However, the young farmer said the protracted war, persistent insurgency and conflicts sometimes prevent the farmers from being able to take and sell their produce in major cities.

The ministry for agriculture, according to its spokesperson Akbar Rustami, would spare no efforts to support the farmers and find markets for their products.

Another farmer also expressed satisfaction over his harvest.

"In the past, I harvested one ton of wheat from my one acre of farmland annually, but over the past couple of years, I've collected 10 tons of wheat each year," Hasamudin, a farmer from the Kilagai area outside Baghlan's provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri, told Xinhua.

The price of one ton of wheat is 25,000 afghanis (325 U.S. dollars) while 10 tons of wheat fetches 250,000 afghanis (3,247 U.S. dollars), which is enough for a four-member family to live comfortably, the farmer said.

Expressing satisfaction over the new farming and horticulture systems, the head of National Horticulture for the northern Baghlan, Kunduz, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces, Mohammad Hasan Frotan, told Xinhua that since 2013 a total of 37,464 acres of land have been turned into farmland and the farmers are happy with their higher income.

"The increase in local products on the one hand increases the farmers' income, and on the other hand decreases the need for imports," Frotan noted, saying the government would continue to support the farmers to increase their output. Enditem

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