Pistachio yield increases in Afghanistan's Samangan province

Kabul [Afghanistan], August 22: Pistachio yield in northern Samangan province has reached 210 tons this year, increasing three folds year on year, an official said Sunday.
Abdul GhafoorKarimi, an official with the provincial department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, told Xinhua that this year's pistachio nuts are ripe enough to sell at 1,300 afghanis (14.61 U.S. dollars) for 1 kg, while last year's mostly unripe nuts were sold at less than 1,000 afghanis per kg.
Farmers' income from selling pistachio nuts is estimated to exceed 276 million afghanis this year, while the figure was 70 million afghanis last year, the official said.
Samangan province is the second largest producer of pistachio after Badghis province in the war-torn country, whose economy largely relies on foreign aid and agricultural products.
Pistachio, pine nuts, and fresh and dry fruits are popular items among Afghanistan's exports. (1 U.S. dollar equals 89 afghanis)
Source: Xinhua