KABUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) has constructed 45 dense gardens in eastern Nangarhar province in the latest efforts to revive horticulture in the land-locked country, the ministry said on Sunday.
"The MAIL has built 45 dense-orchards, including lemon and clementine, on more than 100 acres of land in Behsood, Bati Kot, Kuzkunar and Kama districts of Nangarhar over the past two years," the ministry said in a statement.
"These gardens will bear fruit for the next three years. These gardens are professionally constructed and are very different from the gardens which are traditionally built. Dense-orchards produce after two years, but orchards which are traditionally built by the peasants take about five years to bear fruit. Dense-orchards are 20 times more productive than traditional orchards," the statement said.
According to the statement, 560 women and 460 men will directly and 1,575 men and 1,763 women will indirectly benefit from the newly built orchards.
The Afghan government has taken measures to invest in the agricultural sector as overall agricultural production dramatically declined in recent years due to drought as well as persistent fighting and instability in rural areas.
