Report No. 848a-AF "'"IL C O P

AfghanistanOpportunities for Agricultural and RuralDevelopment Sector ReportVolume 11: AnnexesNovember 20, 1975Regional Projects DepartmentEurope, Middle East and North Africa Regional Office

Not for Public Use

Document of the World Bank

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipientsonly in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may nototherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.

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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

Free market rate average in Afghanis (Af) per US$

1971 - 85.281972 - 84.731973 - 80.00.1974 - 60.98September - October 1974 - 53.40June 1975 - 56.ooSeptember 1975 55.00Conversion rates used in report: Af 55 .US$1.00

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

1 jerib = 0.2 ha1 ha . 2.47 acres1 seer = 7.14 kg

ABBREVIATIONS

ADB - Asian Development BankAFC - Afghan Fertilizer CompanyAgBank - Agricultural Development BankFAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsFPD - Food Procurement DepartmentHASI - Higher Agricultural Studies InstituteHAVA - Helmand-Arghandab Valley AuthorityHLDC - Herat Livestock Development CorporationIDEA - Industrial Development Bank of AfghanistanMA - Ministry of Agriculture (replaced MAI in 1975)MAI - Ministry of Agriculture and IrrigationPACCA - Program for Agricultural Credit and CooperativesPDA - Paktia Development AuthorityRDD - Rural Development DepartmentUNDP - United Nations Development Programme

FISCAL YEAR

The fiscal year is the same as the calendar year, whichruns 621-1/4 years behind the Gregorian equivalent, andstarts on March 21, e.g. 1354 = March 21, 1975 - March 20, 1976.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 1

CROP PRODUCTION

Table of Contents

Chapter Page No.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .......................... i - iii

I. THE PHYSICAL, SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL SETTING .... 1

A. The Physical Environment . . 1Topography . . 1Climate. . 1Soils.. 2

B. Land Tenure . . 2C. Rural Village Organization and Water Rights 3D. Land Use . . 4E. Farming Methods and Labor Supply . . 4F. Government Supporting Services . . 5

Extension . . 5Research . . 7Plant Protection . . 8Supply and Credit . . 8

II. PRODUCTION PRACTICES. 9

General . .9

Wheat.. 9Rice .. 10Maize . . 11

Barley . .11Cotton . .11

Sugar Beets . .12Sugarcane . .13Tree Fruits, Nuts and Vines . .14Vegetables . .14Oilseeds (other than cottonsfeed . .14Fodder Crops . .15

TABLE OF CONTENTS(Continued)

Chapter Page No.

III. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INCREASED CROP PRODUCTION .... 15

Machinery and Equipment ........................... 15Chemical Fertilizer .............................. 16Improved Seeds ................................... 17Agricultural Extension ............................ 18Agricultural Research ............................. 20

IV. WHEAT PRICE STABILIZATION PROGRAM ......... ........ 20

APPENDICES

A. Climatic data for selected towns in AfghanistanB. Monthly mean temperatures at selected recording stationsC. Area of principal cropsD. Trends in production of principal crops

This report is based on the findings of an agricultural andrural development sector mission that visited Afghanistan in September -

October, 1974. This mission was composed of:

Tae-Hee Yoon Chief of Mission (IBRD)Rutillus H. Allan Agricultural Economist (Consultant)Patrick M. Houlahan Livestock Specialist (Consultant)Rupert W. Jessup Agriculturalist (Consultant)Regionald Price Water Resources Specialist (Consultant)John Perry Agro-Industry Specialist (Consultant)

The report was prepared by the mission with the assistance of AltafHussain and discussed in Kabul in July 1975 between Government and Bank staffconsisting of H. Pollan, T.H. Yoon, A. Hussain and A. Stapleton who carriedout subsequent refinement of the report.

ANNEX 1Page i

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX I

CROP PRODUCTION

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

i. This annex deals with plans and strategies to improve cropproduction. The Government's chief goals are to maintain self-sufficiencyin wheat; to increase cotton production for domestic use and to earn moreforeign exchange; and to expand sugar beet production to save foreign 'ex-change on sugar, most of which is now imported. The principal strategies toimprove crop production involve strengthening the extension services; Ln-creasing the distribution of chemical fertilizers and improved seeds; andexpanding institutional credit.

ii. The Department of Extension and Agricultural Development of theMinistry of Agriculture (MA) has about 2,300 extension workers, but aboutone-third have received no training in agriculture, apart from very limitedin-service training. Housing, office and transport facilities for theseextension workers are inadequate. The Department's main function is toarrange the distribution of chemical fertilizers and improved seeds. It hasalso arranged demonstration plots of improved varieties and chemical fer-tilizers on farmers' properties, but in practice only a small proportion offarmers get to see them. There is little direct extension worker/farmercontact aimed at helping farmers with production problems and teaching themimproved technology.

iii. Crop research is carried out by MA's Department of Research andSoil Survey on research stations and farms totalling about 750 ha in 10regions (most established since 1960), but some 30% of this area is takenup with multiplication of improved seeds. Office space and essential officesupplies and laboratory equipment are inadequate both at the central Govern-ment offices in Kabul and at the research farms. Much of the researchwork lacks supervision and planning, and falls more into the category ofresearch demonstrations. Most of the earlier work was concerned with varietyand fertilizer trials with irrigated wheat. Recently the research programwas expanded to include cotton, sunflowers, vegetables and horticulturalcrops. Some research has also begun on animal feedcrops. No results areyet available from this expanded program, but testing of some rapid-maturing varieties of cotton and rice are well advanced.

ANNEX 1Page ii

iv. The Department of Plant Protection and Quarantine is poorlyfunded and staffed. Its main activity is to initiate programs for thecontrol of major epidemic outbreaks. It has been able to offer onlyminimal services to farmers for disease and pest prevention, and has failedto educate farmers in the use of pest control materials and equipment.In any case there is only limited availability of these materials, andlittle credit for their purchase.

v. There is little mechanization of farm operations. For the smallfarmers the main need is for small animal-drawn implements; and for thelarge farmers, tractors and other machines. There are only about 1,500tractors in the country.

vi. Urea and DAP are the only chemical fertilizers being distributed.In 1975 it is expected that 13% of the irrigated wheatlands will receivechemical fertilizers, but sufficient fertilizer should be available forall of the cotton lands. Only small quantities of chemical fertilizersare used on other crops.

vii. About 32% of the irrigated wheatlands will be sown to improvedseeds (but none of the rainfed wheatlands). Enough improved seed isavailable for all of the cotton lands. A major campaign has been mountedfor the distribution of improved vegetable seeds and stocks of improvedvarieties of fruit trees.

viii. Based on recent rates of increase in inputs of improved seeds andchemical fertilizers, the irrigated wheat yield could increase rapidly,perhaps by as much as 3% annually over the next 5-10 years. The yield ofrainfed wheat is highly uncertain, but official estimates show it to haveaveraged about 500 kg per ha for the past few years. There is long-termpotential for yield increases through the introduction of a proper rotationinvolving a period of cultivated fallow for improved soil moisture storage,a period of Medicago pasture to improve the level of soil nitrogen, andreplacement of local varieties with drought-resistant, better yielding ones.

ix. If the present favorable relationship between the price of cottonand the principal competing crops, wheat and sugar beets, is maintained,cotton production could increase substantially over the next 5 years. Mostof this increase would come from expansion of the area planted, which couldbe as much as 40,000 additional ha of irrigated land.

x. A moderate expansion of sugar beet production would appear to bejustified providing the feasibility study now under preparation supports suchas expansion. Reconstruction or expansion of the existing plant at Baghlanshould be given first priority. Concerted efforts will be needed to improvesugar beet yields, and it may be necessary to offer farmers higher prices asa production incentive.

xi. Total fruit production could well increase by an average of 5%annually during the next 5 years, vegetables by 4-5%, rice by 3%, and maize

ANNEX 1Page iii

by 2-3%. Sesame and linseed are grown commercially, but cannot be pro-cessed in the existing oil extracting facilities. The Government plans tomount an extension campaign aimed at substituting sunflower for these crops,without increasing the area now used (about 52,000 ha).

xii. Government action is required to improve the extension, researchand plant protection services, and to increase the availability of chemicalfertilizers, improved seeds, and other inputs. A major need is for str'ength-ening the vocational agricultural schools, and a systematic program for in-service training of existing staff is also necessary.

xiii. Price policies play an important role in directing resource alloca-tion in agriculture. Price support and stabilization for priority commodi-ties are necessary, particularly for wheat. A wheat price stabilizationprogram with 190,000 tons of additional storage capacity is recommended.

ANNEX 1Page 1

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 1

CROP PRODUCTION

I. PHYSICAL, SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL SETTING

A. The Physical Environment

Topography

1.01 Afghanistan is a country with rugged topography in which mounitain,desert, and forest areas unsuitable for cultivation comprise about 85%,ofthe total. Elevations range from 300 m along the banks of the Amu Daryaon the northern frontier to 7,500 m on the Wakhan Corridor in the north-east. The most prominent topographic feature is the Hindu Kush mountainrange, which occupies the central and northeastern parts of the country.

Climate

1.02 Afghanistan's climate is continental, characterized by hot,dry summers and cold, wet winters and wide diurnal fluctuations in tempera-ture.

1.03 Precipitation varies considerably from year to year and withaltitu'de (Appendix A). It occurs from December to April inclusive, Marchusually being the highest month. The period June through October is verydry. The areas with least precipitation are the lowlands southeast ofLashkargah and Farah, and those north of Mazar-i-Sharif and Shebergan andwest of Kunduz and Baghlan. The total precipitation in these deserts is100 mm or less per annum. The highest precipitation occurs on the HinduKush, e.g. 1,170 mm at Salang. Elevations up to 1,500 m receive most oftheir precipitation as rain, while elevations above 3,000 m receive mostas snow, which melts in spring, providing water to irrigate the valleysduring spring and summer.

1.04 Average monthly temperatures for selected towns are presentedin Appendix B. The cold period lasts from November to March inclusive, andthe hottest part of the year is June through August, with maximum tempera-tures in July in most places. The maximum temperatures recorded at dit-ferent localities are related to elevation. 1/ During winter, which is a

1/ For example, at Jalalabad (elevation 550 m), July temperatures reach ashigh as 43°C, whereas at Kabul (elevation 1,800 m) they seldom reach 38°C.

ANNEX 1Page 2

dormant period as far as plant growth is concerned, temperatures can fallbelow -20°C. Wheat, for example, is often sown and germinates in November,but further growth does not occur until early spring.

1.05 The Jalalabad area, where sugarcane and citrus fruit are grown,has the longest frost-free period, more than 300 days per year; it is270 days in the Helmand Valley, a major irrigation area; 250 days in theBaghlan-Kunduz area, where sugar beets are grown; and 230 days at Herat,an irrigation area in the Hari Rud basin (Appendix A).

1.06 Wide diurnal temperature changes are a feature of the climate.Thus, in the south, summer temperatures may reach 45°C in the daytime, butmay fall to 15°C at night. In the northern desert, winter temperatures mayfall to -24°C at night, but rise to 10°C during the day.

1.07 Very low relative humidities of 5-8% are experienced duringthe hottest summer months. High summer evaporation rates, a feature ofthe country, are further increased in the west by a strong and persistentwind which blows almost daily from June through September.

Soils

1.08 The soils are mostly poorly structured, alkaline, high in calcium,low in organic matter, low in available nitrogen and phosphorus and mediumto high in available potassium.

1.09 Rainfed crop production, principally wheat growing, is mainly onrolling and hill land at lower altitudes near the cities of Baghlan, Kunduz,Mazar-i-Sharif, Maimana, Herat and Panjshir where the soils have formedby weathering of loess that was blown from glacial and alluvial deposits.The soils of the major river valleys have largely formed in alluvium.There is a seedling emergence problem at germination on many of the alluvialsoils due to the development of surface crusts under irrigation or rain-drop impact. Treatment with gypsum would alleviate this problem.

1.10 Soil surveys and land classification based on suitability forirrigation have usually been carried out in the command areas of the majorirrigation works, but not in areas where local small-scale irrigationhas developed. There is a need for soil survey and land classification inthe latter areas for the purpose of advising farmers on suitability ofcrops for different soils, and also in order to extrapolate results offertilizer and other experiments from the research stations to the farmers'fields.

B. Land Tenure

1.11 Comprehensive data on land tenure are lacking. The average sizeof farm holdings is estimated at 3.5 ha, but many holdings are smaller.A high proportion of the total cultivated area is owned by a small number

ANNEX 1Page 3

of large landowners. These large holdings are either farmed by hiredlaborers, rented out to other farmers, or sharecropped. The situationvaries widely from place to place. For example, in the Khanabad IrrigationProject area about 75% of the farms are owner-operated, but in the HelmandValley sharecropping predominates.

1.12 Renting farmers pay a stipulated rent to the landowner, mostlyin kind and generally based on the known productivity of the land. Thefarmers usually supply all inputs except land and water.

1.13 Sharecropping 1/ is usually on a single crop basis, allowing fora change of contract after each crop. There are two types of sharecroppers:(a) kashtagars, who share the crop with the landowner typically on a 50-50basis, and who generally provide all labor requirements, draft animalsand seeds; and (b) buzgars, whose only input is labor, in return for whichthey usually receive one-fifth of the crop. The landowner supplies allother inputs.

1.14 There is considerable fragmentation of holdings, and many holdingshave multiple ownership. This situation is a serious constraint to mechani-zation and efficient farming operations. The inheritance laws are suchthat upon the death of a family progenitor, the land is divided among thesons, of whom there will usually be several. In actual practice, a farmermay have 10 or more small plots in different locations, perhaps even indifferent villages. Complicated multiple ownerships result when a house-hold of brothers seeks to avoid fragmentation of land into unworkable-sized units.

C. Rural Village Organization and Water Rights

1.15 The most prestigious person in an Afghan village, apart from themullah (religious leader), is the malik (village headman). He is theofficiallv recognized spokesman and representative of the community, and isresponsible for liaison between the Government and village. In theory, heis chosen and elected to the position by the village community, but inpractice the office is often held within a single family for many years.Meetings and discussions with groups of farmers are arranged through themalik, who invites the farmers to come to a central place in the villalge,for example, to his own home or to the village mosque.

1/ Source of information: R. B. Scott, The North Shamalan, Helmand Valley,Afghanistan - A Survey of Land and People, USAID, August 1971.

ANNEX 1Page 4

1.16 The other important local person as far as the farmers are con-cerned is the mirab, the watermaster, who is responsible for control ofthe irrigation water distribution system. He is chosen and paid by thelandowners (usually in kind). The mirab has at least one man to aid himwith water control, but usually spends considerable time himself in thearea. All landowners within the service area of the irrigation canal havewater rights. Theoretically, water is given in turn to all the land-owners in the service area, commencing with the farmer at the head of thecanal. In practice, the system is often flexible, with individuals usingwater out of turn if their fields need it, either with or without arrange-ment with the mirab. Furthermore, there are indications that water dis-tribution relates directly to wealth and political power. Local politicalpower lies with the large landowners, since they have a large proportion ofthe total land area, and sharecroppers are obligated to them.

D. Land Use

1.17 About 8 million ha of the country's total area of 63 million haare suitable for cultivation. At present, though, it appears that lessthan 4 million ha are cultivated annually, of which about 2.4 million haare irrigated and just over 1 million ha are rainfed.

1.18 Not all the rainfed or irrigated cropland is planted each year. Inthe rainfed farming areas between 20% and 50% may lie idle in any one year,the figures varying widely from year to year depending on seasonal conditions;in the irrigated areas, perhaps 25-35% of the land is idle each year. Theremaining 55 million ha comprise mountain, desert, and forest areas unsuitablefor cultivation. The mountain areas are used for livestock grazing. About15 million ha of lowlands are available for winter grazing and 25 million haon the mountains for summer grazing.

E. Farming Methods and Labor Supply

1.19 The labor requirements of wheat, the principal crop, occur mainlyduring planting and harvesting. This results in considerable underemploy-ment at other times. Despite high seasonal underemployment, shortages occurat the requirement peaks for wheat, particularly when double cropping isintroduced, because of traditional labor-intensive farming methods. Themain implements used in land preparation are wooden ploughs, brushwoodfor harrowing, and wooden boards for seedbed levelling. Sowing is doneby hand. The seed is broadcast, except for seeds that are planted in soilholes, including vegetables, melons, sugar beets (a common practice is alsoto raise beet seedlings in nurseries and plant out by hand), and part ofthe cotton crop. For some crops, shovels and mattocks are used for soil

ANNEX 1Page 5

tillage after the plants are established. Harvesting is carried out withhand labor, grain crops being harvested with sickles. Grain threshing isdone with livestock such as oxen or donkeys which trample out the grain,which is then hand-winnowed.

1.20 An illustration of the problem of seasonal labor shortage is thesituation in the Kunduz/Baghlan area, which has three main peaks in laborrequirements. The first peak occurs in spring, when final land preparationis carried out, followed by planting of cotton, summer grains, melons andvegetables; also, rainfed wheat is often planted. The second labor peak,in June, is at the time of wheat harvest. Actually, in the Baghlan area,sugar beets should be sown in spring, but because priority is given towheat production, they are planted (as seedlings) after the wheat harvest.The land must first be prepared, leading to still further delays. By thistime, the growing period is far too short and very low beet yields oftenresult. The third peak occurs in October-November when cotton should bepicked; fruits, vegetables, rice and sugar beets harvested; and the landprepared for wheat sowing. Priority in autumn wheat-sowing is given toirrigated land; and although rainfed wheat should also be sown in autumn,there is often insufficient time. Because of this, rainfed wheat may notbe planted until spring, resulting in lower yields. Pressure on labor oftenmeans that cotton-picking continues until February; thus, some of the cottonstays in the fields in winter and is damaged. A similar situation appliesin other parts of Afghanistan, except that different crops may be grown andpeak periods may vary.

F. Government Supporting Services

Extension

1.21 The Department of Extension and Agricultural Development in MA whichhas undergone many organizational changes since its establishment in 1958, isheaded by a General President and consists of seven functional directorates:Administration, Information, Extension Relations with Provinces, Programmingand Evaluation, Agro-business, Agricultural Mechanization, and Seed Production.A Director of Extension is located in each province under the direction ofthe provincial Director-General of Agriculture. The Director of Extensionsupervises a varying number of extension units, each of which has an extensionsupervisor and in principle about 10 extension agents.

1.22 In practice, however, the actual number of extension agents is lessthan this. For example, Balkh Province has 10 extension units and 81 exten-sion agents (a further 23 extension agent positions exist but have not beenfilled because of a lack of trained people); Kunduz Province has 8 units and56 extension agents (a further 24 positions are unfilled); and Herat Provincehas 16 units but only 40 extension agents (a further 64 positions are unfilled).The Annual Plan for 1974/75 proposed to increase the number of extension unitsthroughout the country to 300 (from 250) and the number of extension agents

ANNEX 1Page 6

to 2,300. The reported national extension staff is now 3,000, and it is in-tended to appoint 200 to 300 new staff, mainly extension agents, annually.

1.23 Each Director of Extension is provided with a motor vehicle,and in principle each extension supervisor with a motor scooter and eachextension agent with a bicycle. In the past, many of the agents and somesupervisors lacked any transport, but now most supervisors reportedly havemotor scooters, and 80% to 85% of the agents have bicycles. The Departmentof Extension received a budget allocation of Af. 135 million in 1974/75.

1.24 The most important function of the rural extension workers is toarrange the distribution of chemical fertilizer and improved seed to farmers.Fertilizer is marketed through the Afghan Fertilizer Company, and improvedseeds are obtained from seed multiplication projects on research stations,from private farmers who contract to supply seed, and from imports. Thisinput distribution occupies the entire field staff for about 6 months of theyear. A secondary function is to arrange crop demonstration plots on farmers'properties. For a demonstration plot, an individual farmer is chosen andsupplied with improved seed and fertilizer. A plot is about one-tenth ha.The farmer himself carries out all the necessary operations using traditionalmethods and receives the product after the yield has been measured by anextension agent. These yields are recorded, but in many cases their accuracyis questionable.

1.25 The demonstration potential of these plots does not seem to be fullyexploited, however: a survey at Khanabad, for example, revealed that farmersin most villages had not seen any demonstrations, and no extension worker hadapproached them to ascertain their needs and problems and to advise them inthe adoption of improved technology. Some large landowners, however, in-formed the researchers that extension workers had laid out demonstrationson their fields using Mexipak wheat seed with fertilizers. The main demon-stration effort is being directed towards wheat, cotton, sugar beets and sun-flowers. Some 1,700 wheat plots, 750 cotton plots and 90 sugar beet plotswere planned for 1974/75; also, experimental farms for sunflowers, each of2 ha, were planted in 12 provinces.

1.26. Other extension activities include the regular radio broadcasts forfarmers of the Information Directorate of the Extension Department, whichalso produces large numbers of simple, illustrated pamphlets dealing with cropproduction.

1.27 A major constraint to the extension service is the quality of itsstaff. Almost one-third of the extension agents have been educated to lessthan 9th grade, and the maximum education received by any of the extensionsupervisors and agents is 12th grade. The 9th grade graduates have receivedno school training in agriculture, since this subject is taught only in the10th, 11th and 12th grades. Most have received some limited in-service train-ing, as one or two 10-12-day courses are held each year. It is not possiblewith the present educational facilities to recruit sufficient numbers of new

ANNEX 1Page 7

extension agents and extension supervisors with adequate training in agri-culture to fill the targeted 200 to 300 positions per year required duringthe coming years.

1.28 A further constraint is the lack of facilities. Housing and suit-able office space for extension agents are usually not available in the smallvillages. The Government has been considering erecting a 4-room building ineach main village--2 rooms to be used as office space and 2 as living quarters--but has not allocated funds for this purpose.

Research

1.29 An agricultural research program was initiated in 1963, but onlygained momentum in 1966. Most agricultural research is still carried-out byMA, although Kabul University's Faculty of Agriculture has carried out somefield trials in the Kabul area. The Faculty also has recently initiated someeconomic research on farm management and marketing of agricultural products.MA does not participate in this, although this type of research has a distinctrole in MA's planning and administration of agricultural programs.

1.30 The Research Department of MA is headed by a General President andis supported by a Soils and Plant Services Unit. The soil survey group hasnot been well developed, more emphasis being given to soil fertility, espe-cially in relation to cotton, wheat and maize. Agricultural research stationsand farms are operating in the following regions: Kabul; Kunduz and Baghlan;the northern region (Mazar-i-Sharif); the western region (Herat); the south-western region (Lashkargah); the southern region (Kandahar); the easternregion (Jalalabad); the southeastern region (Ghazni); and the central high-lands (Bamiyan). There are nine research stations-with a total area of 750 ha.The Department employs 117 university graduates, some of them with trainingat foreign universities. About 25 graduates work at the Darulaman ResearchStation at Kabul, but in the provinces staff is generally limited to 1 or 2graduates. The budget for the Department in 1974/75 was Af. 20 million.

1.31 Under the impetus of the Accelerated Wheat Program, most of theearlier research was directed towards increasing irrigated wheat production.Some attention was also given to maize and a very limited amount to sugarbeets and rice. Recently the research program has been expanded to include--in addition to wheat--cotton, maize, rice, sunflowers, vegetables and horti-cultural crops. Limited research has also been started on animal feedcropsand sugar beets. No results are yet available on this expanded program.

1.32 In addition to research work, which often lacks supervision andplanning and falls more into the category of research demonstrations, muchof the area of the research stations is devoted to the raising of foundationseed and fruit tree stocks and to seed multiplication. In 1974/75, some 30%of the total area was allocated for the multiplication of improved seeds, asfollows: grains 120 ha; industrial plant seeds (particularly cotton, sugarbeets and sunflowers) 100 ha; and vegetable seeds 25 ha.

ANNEX 1

Page 8

Plant Protection

1.33 Plant protection activities are the responsibility of MA'sDepartment of Plant Protection and Quarantine. In each of the provincesthe Director-General of Agriculture supervises a small staff of 5 to 10people concerned with plant protection activities, but there are no village-level workers equivalent to the extension agents of the Extension Department.

1.34 The Department of Plant Protection and Quarantine has the followingfunctions: ti) to evaluate pesticides prior to registration; (ii) to conductsurveys of major pests, and to conduct large-scale control programs whenepidemics of pests such as locusts occur; (iii) to demonstrate pest controltechniques to farmers; and (iv) to arrange credit for farmers doing their ownspraying when disease or pest outbreaks occur. In practice, however, due to ashortage of qualified people, the Department's major activity has been toinitiate programs for the control of epidemic outbreaks. The pesticideregistration scheme has not operated; there has been very little researchinto competitive weeds, diseases and pests, including nematodes; there areno quarantine laws; and almost no plant quarantine effort has been made.Diseases and pests are widespread. Farmers generally complain of the un-availability of pesticides and fungicides as well as plant protection equip-ment. The Budget of the Research Department in 1974/75 was Af. 22 million.

Supply and Credit

1.35 There are probably no more than 1,500 tractors in Afghanistan, andonly in a few areas are tractors available on a custom-hire basis. AgBank hasbeen financing sales of tractors and related implements to farmers owning atleast 40 ha at the rate of 300-400 per year, however, and the demand remainsstrong. A major problem has been procuring adequate supplies and ensuringproper servicing facilities. Other equipment for which credit facilities areavailable from AgBank is water pumps and polyculteurs.

1.36 The establishment of the Afghan Fertilizer Company (AFC) in 1973has contributed to the increased distribution and use of chemical fertilizer.AFC has responsibility for fertilizer procurement from both foreign and domes-tic sources. Diammonium phosphate is imported but the Mazar-i-Sharif ureaplant, which came on stream in 1974, is expected to supply domestic urea needsfor the next five years. Most chemical fertilizer is used for wheat andcotton production, with only small amounts going to rice, maize, fruits andvegetables. The percentage of farmers using fertilizers is still very low,however, and there are wide variations in the rates of application of ureaand DAP from village to village, and from farmer to farmer in the same village.

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II. PRODUCTION PRACTICE

General

2.01 Appendices C and D show area and production trends of the prin-cipal crops. The main increases have been in wheat, cotton, fruits andvegetables. With the exception of some wheat, barley, sesame and linseed,all of the crops are irrigated. The grain crops--wheat, rice, barley, andmaize--account for some 90% of the total area under all crops. The output ofgrains is reported to have increased only slightly during the decade priorto 1974. Total area cultivated declined as a result of the 2-year droughtwhich affected rainfed wheat; yields on irrigated lands increased somewhatbut not enough to offset this loss. Primitive cultural practices, includingpoor varieties and inadequate fertilizer, contributed to the low yields.

2.02 Cotton, other oilseeds and sugar beets, occupy only about 5% ofthe cultivated area. Production of these industrial crops during the pastdecade was not satisfactory. Yields were erratic, and there was no overallupward trend, largely because of low fertilizer use and poor culturalpractices. In addition, controlled prices for cotton and sugar beet wereoften low in relation to wheat prices. Production of fruit and vegetables hasbeen encouraging. They occupy about 6% of the cultivated area and were theonly categories which exceeded production targets in the past decade.

Wheat

2.03 Wheat is grown in all parts of Afghanistan where irrigated orrainfed production is possible. It accounts for about 60% of the totalarea under all crops, and is b)y far the most important crop in terms oftotal production. The total area under wheat is about 2.4 million ha,of which 1.3 million ha Is irrigated and 1.05 million ha rainfed. Totalproduction for 1974/75 is estimated at 2.87 million tons, with an averageyield of 1.22 tons per ha, taking into account both irrigated and rainfedland. This production should be sufficient to meet domestic needs.

2.04 Irrigated wheat should be sown in autumn (late October to mid-November), as later sowing gives lower yields. In practice, even irrigatedwheat relies heavily upon natural rainfall and only partly on supplementaryirrigations. Seeds are usually hand-broadcasted, at the rate of about 140 kgper ha for Mexipak. Yields have ranged between 1.5 and 1.8 tons per ha overthe past four years.

2.05 Techniques necessary to improve irrigated wheat yields includeearly planting, disease and pest control, and expanded use of improvedvarieties and chemical fertilizers. Yields with Mexipak have been about4 tons per ha in the northern provinces, using the generally recommendedrate of chemical fertilizer application of 300 kg per ha (total of urea andDAP), and with correct timing of sowing and land preparation. The use of thesimple, traditional Indian seed drill instead of hand-broadcasting would allowcontrol of planting depth and lateral spacing of seeds.

ANNEX 1Page 10

2.06 Rainfed wheat is grown mostly in northern Afghanistan, in a beltextending from Herat in the northwest to Faizabad in the northeast, on soilsderived from loess, and at elevations between 900 and 2,000 m. In recentyears, rainfed wheat has extended into former pasturelands, partly becauseheavy stock losses have caused farmers to seek alternative incomes, andpartly in response to high wheat prices.

2.07 There is much abandonment of rainfed wheat which is not worthharvesting, and a meaningful average yield is difficult to obtain. Theofficially reported average of about 500 kg per ha, is low compared, forexample, with Kermanshah in Iran, where it is 800 kg per ha, with theresult that typically only 20% of the total wheat produced in Afghanistancomes from rainfed lands. The low yield is due to a variety of factors,including lack of moisture, the use of low yielding local varieties, poorland preparation, late sowing (often not until spring), and lack of diseasecontrol. There is an urgent need to introduce and test high yielding,drought-resistant varieties for rainfed conditions.

2.08 In many other countries, where rainfed wheat is raised on landsthat receive an amount and distribution of precipitation similar to thatin Afghanistan, a proper rotation is followed, which includes a period ofsome 6 months of cultivated fallow to increase the amount of moisturestored in the soil. On calcareous soils low in available nitrogen likethose in Afghanistan, the rotation also includes a period of some 18 monthswhen the land is left under pasture of Medicago tribuloides or otherrelated medics. The purpose is to build up soil nitrogen for the wheatcrop, thereby eliminating the need to use chemical nitrogenous fertilizer,and to provide pasture for livestock grazing. Once the seed has been intro-duced to an area, Medicago tribuloides, being an annual, establishes itselfnaturally during each period of temporary pasture. In this way, a 3-yearrotation could be developed for the rainfed wheatlands, consisting of wheatcrop--18 months of Medicago pasture--6 months of cultivated fallow. In fact,there is no reason why the rotation should not be widened to include a barleycrop, which would provide feed for human consumption or suppplementary winterfeed for livestock.

Rice

2.09 Rice is grown principally in the north, around Baghlan and Kunduz.About half of the Khanabad Irrigation Project area (Kunduz) is used for ricegrowing. Other rice-growing regions are Herat and Nangahar Provinces. Onlylocal varieties are grown, including the medium-grained Lawangi and Mayeen,and the long, fine-grained Barch. These varieties have a tendency to lodgeand have a long growing period. Seed is sown in nurseries, usually in earlyApril, and the seedlings are transplanted into the fields about five weekslater. Harvesting is in September using sickles, and animals are used inthreshing to trample out the grain. Only a small percentage of farmers usechemical fertilizers, e.g. about 25% in the Khanabad Irrigation Project area.

ANNEX 1Page 11

During some years, the crop is damaged by rice-stem borers, Pseudaletiaunipuncta, and grain aphids. Production has not increased during the lastfew years, according to official estimates, and is estimated at 414,000 tonsfrom 210,000 ha, giving an average yield of nearly 2 tons per ha (AppendicesC and D).

2.10 A number of dwarf, high yielding, fertilizer-responsive varietiesare now in an advanced stage of testing at the research stations, and seedshould gradually become available to the farmers in the next five years,. Itis also anticipated that more chemical fertilizer will be used. In viewof this, yields per ha could gradually increase during the next five years,at an average annual rate of 2%. The area planted is not expected toincrease significantly.

Maize

2.11 Maize is grown in many parts of the country, but generally occupies1% or less of the total cultivated area. However, in the Helmand Valley, itis used in double cropping after winter wheat, and is grown on some 9% of theland. Double cropping of maize is also practiced in other areas, and perhaps25% of all maize is produced in this way. Annual production is reported tohave remained fairly constant, at about 700,000 tons during the last few years,even though double cropping with wheat has increased. The production hascome from an area reported to be 480,000 ha (see Appendix C), giving a lowaverage yield per ha of 1.5 tons. Seeds of high yielding varieties are avail-able, and the use of chemical fertilizers should increase. A modest increaseis therefore expected in both the area sown and yield during the next f'iveyears, giving an average annual increase in production of 3 to 4%.

Barley

2.12 The area sown to barley has been reported at 320,000 ha in recentyears and the yield at about 1.1 tons per ha (appendices C and D). The; averageyield is reduced by inclusion of rainfed production, much of it in highilandareas with short growing seasons. At Herat it was reported that the usle of125 kg of urea per ha, and about 60 kg of DAP, enabled farmers to obtain ayield of 1.5 tons per ha. A significant increase in total barley productionwould be expected if a barley crop were incorporated into the rotation linrainfed farming areas (para 2.08). Without this, only a slight increase canbe expected during the next five years.

Cotton

2.13 Commercial cotton-growing and ginning are carried out in four mainregions: Kunduz and Baghlan in the northeast, Mazar-i-Sharif and Balkh' inthe north, Herat in the northwest, and Laskargah in the southwest. The cottonvarieties grown in Afghanistan, Acala 442 and Acala 15 - 17C are both highyielding, but have long growing seasons (180 - 200 days). Thus, in the northern

ANNEX 1Page 12

regions, double cropping of cotton with other crops does not produce goodyields, although some farmers do attempt this. Some early-maturing varietiesshould be sown in April, and harvested in October/November, and in some placesin December. Proper seedbed preparation requires 4 or 5 ploughings with thetraditional wooden plough,- or one ploughing with a "polyculteur", an animal-drawn plough. Much of the cotton is still planted by hand-broadcasting;weeding must be done by hand, and major weed infestations are commonly observedin fields planted in this way. With row planting, weeds can be controlled withthe wooden plough or by using a hoe.

2.14 When the price of cotton has been low relative to wheat,farmers have tended to plant cotton on those parts of their plots that areless easily irrigated. For optimal production, 12 to 14 irrigations areneeded at about 15-day intervals up to the time of flowering, after whichcotton should be irrigated about every 10 days. Most farmers only give5 to 8 irrigations, and often none are given after the flowering stage isreached. Serious infestations of wilt and such insect pests as aphids, cut-worms, cotton leaf hoppers, two-spotted spider mites, spiny bollworms, thripsand white flies occur in some years. 1/ Production trends (Appendix D) showcotton production increasing to 150,000 tons and yields rising to 1.5-1.6 tonsper ha.

2.15 Potential cotton yields, using improved techniques, are muchhigher than 1.6 tons per ha. Average yields of 2 to 2.5 tons per ha wereobtained by a group of farmers at Kunduz in 1969, 1970, and 1971 usingimproved practices recommended by MAI and the French Cotton Mission, 2/compared with about 1.1 tons per ha obtained by other farmers in the districtduring the same years using traditional farming methods.

2.16 In 1975, for the first time, adequate supplies of chemicalfertilizers and improved seeds were available for cotton production. Ifthe present favorable relationship between the price of cotton and theprincipal competing crops is maintained, farmers may be encouraged toplant cotton on better-irrigated land, and cotton production could increaseat 10% annually during the next five years. Most of the increase would comefrom an increase in the cultivated area of as much as 40,000 ha of irrigatedland.

Sugar Beets

2.17 Afghanistan produces about 15% of its sugar requirements - abouttwo-thirds from sugar beet and one-third from sugarcane. Sugarbeet growing

1/ Information supplied by G. Castille, Agricultural Officer with the PACCAProject.

2/ Cotton Growing and Marketing in Afghanistan, prepared for the CottonTextile Industry Committee of the High Economic Council of Afghanistan,January 1971.

ANNEX 1Page 13

is restricted almost entirely to the Baghlan area, the location of thecountry's only sugar factory. This factory contracts with growers for thepurchase of beets, supplies the seed and transportation of the beets to thefactory, and pays farmers according to the percentage sugar content and theweight of the beets, less any credit advanced for chemical fertilizers. Italso provides some technical assistance, as it has its own extension agents.

2.18 Although farmers in the Baghlan area have had over 30 years' ex-perience in sugar beet production, yields are still low by world standards,due to inefficient agronomic practices, such as shallow cultivation withtraditional implements; late planting as a result of priority being givento wheat, cotton and rice; and weed, disease, and pest damage. Officialestimates give average beet yields of 10-15 tons per ha, but these probablyunderstate actual yield levels. The area sown is estimated by the amountof seed supplied to the farmers and using a rate of sowing that is generallyaccepted to be greatly exceeded in actual practice. Under normal conditions,some farmers have yields as low as 10 tons per ha, but efficient farmersachieve yields as high as 40 tons.

2.19 The price of sugar beets has been raised by about 50% over the lastfew years, in an endeavor to encourage farmers to increase production. Asthe Government is now hoping to make Afghanistan self-sufficient in sugar,it is likely that a favorable price for sugar beets will be maintained. Withgreater production incentives and improved husbandry techniques, the potentialfor sugar beets in the Baghlan area appears to be quite high. In a trialcarried out in 1967/68, a yield of 52 tons per ha was obtained using 60 kgeach of nitrogen and P205 per ha. 1/ Yields, therefore, can reasonably beexpected to rise to 25 tons per ha during the next few years.

2.20 To supply a new sugar factory, production of around 320,000 t:onsof sugar beets per annum will be needed. Assuming a yield of 25 tons of beetsper ha, 13,000 ha of sugar beets will need to be harvested each year to supplyone factory. Sugar beet is best grown in a 4-year rotation; therefore, thetotal area of land in the rotation to supply each factory amounts to 52,000 ha.The balance involved in the sugar beet rotation would be available for thegrowing of cotton, wheat, and other irrigated crops. Nevertheless, establish-ment of new sugar factories will have a major impact on local cropping patternsand will impose a heavy demand on the summer water supply.

Sugarcane

2.21 Sugarcane is restricted to the Jalalabad area, the only area inAfghanistan with a climate suitable for its production. A small factoryfor cane processing ceased operations some time ago because it was notleconomically viable. This installation is now obsolete, and no significantincrease in cane production over the present 65,000 tons is expected duringthe next 5 years.

1/ Source: Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Use, FAO Report No. TA 3016, 1971.

ANNEX 1Page 14

Tree Fruits, Nuts and Vines

2.22 Fruits are grown in most irrigated areas, but are concentrated inJalalabad, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kandahar and Parwan. Grapes, the principal com-mercial fruit, account for about 30% of total-fruit-production. There are manylocal varieties that yield good quality table grapes and raisins. Mulberryis the most widely grown fruit, and its sun-dried berries are important inthe diet of the people. Mulberry also supplies firewood, and its leaves supportan infant sericulture industry. Apart from pomegranates, the local varietiesof the other deciduous fruits - apple, quince, cherry, peach, and plum -yield fruit of varying quality. Most of the local apricot varieties, too,are not particularly good for drying. Citrus fruits and olives are grown inthe Nangahar area. Nut trees include walnut, almond and pistachio. Most ofthe pistachio are wild forest trees.

2.23 Traditional agronomic practices are still followed. Instead ofgrowing grape vines on trellises, for example, many farmers use earth moundsabout 2 m wide and high; as a result, fruit deteriorates on the vine, andweeding must be done entirely by hand. Pruning practices are primitive, andinsufficient space is allowed between plants. While farmyard manures arecommonly applied, the use of chemical fertilizers is limited. Fruit treessuffer heavy losses from insect attack during some years. In addition, thediseases anthracnose and powdery mildew seriously affect grape production.Fruit production appears to be increasing, largely as a result of an increasein area.

2.24 It is generally acknowledged that the climate in many of the irrigatedareas of Afghanistan is well suited to tree fruit and grape production. Futureyields should show considerable improvement as the Government has initiateda major program for the multiplication and distribution of high quality,high yielding fruit stocks. A vigorous extension program is required toachieve improved insect and disease control, improved cultural operationsincluding weed control, better planting practice, accelerated tuse of chemicalfertilizers, and modern pruning practices. With such improvements, fruitproduction could increase by 4-5% annually.

Vegetables

2.25 Vegetable production, estimated to be around 650,000 tons annually,is based on small plots producing for family needs and local markets. Growthin production will be closely associated with growth in demand and with im-proved transportation facilities. Government programs for the multiplicationand distribution of improved seed may also contribute to yield increases.Again, growth in production of 3-4% annually would seem to be a reasonabletarget.

Oilseeds (other than cottonseed)

2.26 Small areas of linseed and sesame are grown under both irrigatedand rainfed conditions in many parts of the country. These oilseeds are

ANNEX 1Page 15

exported in unprocessed form, because the existing factory oil extractingfacilities are not equipped to process them and are currently processingonly cottonseed. Linseed has been the principal export, production mostlycoming from Farah and B8dghis Provinces, but no commercial use has been madeof the flax fiber. In addition, small quantities of sesame have been exported.Production is estimated at around 35,000 tons.

2.27 The Government is planning to initiate an extension program aimedat substituting sunflower for sesame and linseed, without any significantincrease in the total area planted, because the present oil extractingfacilities can handle sunflower seed. Sunflowers have been grown successfullyat a number of research stations, and in order to promote their cultivation,the Government has guaranteed to purchase the entire production at Af 75 perseer.

2.28 Sunflower is a relatively easy crop to grow in Afghanistan. In theHelmand Valley there are no known disease or insect pest problems. Sunflowercompetes well with weeds, and can be established by either broadcasting ordrilling. The growing period is around 120 days and sowing is early ini March.A second crop of mung bean or maize should be possible. However, birds area problem and, especially with late sowing, natural insect populations'areinsufficient for adequate pollination during particularly hot, dry weather.Nevertheless, trials have given yields of 1.7-2.5 tons per ha, and promotionof this crop would appear to be worthwhile.

Fodder Crops

2.29 No information is available on the area sown to irrigated foddercrops (alfalfa, clover and mung bean), or on their production. However, itis generally estimated that they occupy a total of about 6,000 ha. They areexpected to continue to play only a minor role in the feeding of livestockexcept in special situations of the kind created by the Herat LivestockProject or at high elevations where livestock are wintered without anyopportunity for grazing.

III. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INCREASED CROP PRODUCTION:

Machinery and Equipment

3.01 Over 1,500 agricultural tractors have been sold during the last10 years. The demand for AgBank credit to finance tractor purchases isstrong. More than 400 large (40-70 hp) tractors could be sold with AgBankfinancing annually. The average cost per tractor with implements is esti-mated at Af 500,000. The demand is chiefly in Kandahar, Helmand, Ghazni andHerat Provinces where double cropping on medium- and large-size farms ishandicapped by lack of labor and power during planting and harvestingseasons. At the present level of mechanization, increased use of tractors would

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only displace labor in peak periods of labor shortage; through the introduc-tion of double-cropping, mechanization leads to a more even demand for labor.In addition, yields will be increased as a result of more timely planting andbetter seed-bed preparation as well as more uniform seed and fertilizerapplication.

3.02 There is also an important role to be played by much less expensiveanimal-drawn mechanical equipment which can be made in Afghanistan. AgBankfinances the sale of polyculteurs which are ox-drawn implements with exchange-able attachments including a plough, ridger cultivator and harrow. The unitcost is about Af 3,000. AgBank expects to finance the purchase of only about240 of these implements. This is not enough to have a very significant impacton production. Further study is needed of the economic and technical reasonswhy this intermediate type of mechanization has not attracted more interestamong farmers.

3.03 AgBank is actively involved in the procurement and distribution ofmachinery and equipment and has recently even taken on responsibility fortractor servicing. These functions have become necessary because of therudimentary level of private sector services in this field. Such supplyactivities should not be regarded as a primary function of AgBank, however,and serious consideration should be given to means of upgrading private sectorcompetence and the gradual divestment by AgBank of these supply activities.Certainly the recent AgBank proposal to be granted monopoly rights for theimportation and distribution of machinery and equipment should be resisted.

Chemical Fertilizer

3.04 By far the greatest production response within Afghanistan's agri-culture in the foreseeable future is likely to come from a rapid expansionin fertilizer use. Yield responses are already established, and with presentvery low yield levels expectations of yield increases of 50 - 100% fromfertilizer application alone are not unreasonable. Even with relatively lowwheat prices financial returns would justify the application of fertilizerto almost all the irrigated wheat area. For cotton, sugar beet and othercash crops the financial incentives are even greater. The AFC program toexpand fertilizer use by 10 - 20% annually is modest when considered in thecontext of the very low base of current useage. A more ambitious program istechnically feasible and financially and economically highly desirable.

3.05 Farmer acceptance of fertilizer is gradually increasing, but con-tinued efforts are needed on the part of the extension service to promotefertilizer use. The major constraint to an accelerated fertilizer program,however, is likely to be the capacity of the AFC and AgBank to procure, dis-tribute and finance fertilizers. While sufficient fertilizer has been avail-able for the past few years, the distribution procedures of AFC are laboriousand the number of retail outlets are limited. To be approved, retailers must

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be literate and have sufficient funds to pay cash for their fertilizer.Neither requirement is essential for effective retail trading operations, andthe number of retail outlets is therefore unnecessarily restricted. Alsorestrictive are the procedures and timing of the short-term credit operationsof AgBank. The insistence on joint and several guarantees, which means groupborrowing, the need to be present at appointed places at fixed times to com-plete application procedures, the fixed distribution of credit either in theautumn or in the spring, and the charging of interest from ten days after thedistribution of credit coupons rather than from the time of their use are alldisincentives within the credit mechanism. Other broader problems includethe disincentives inherent within the traditional land ownership and tenuresystems, the instability of wheat prices, and the proposed increase in ferti-lizer prices.

3.06 There is therefore a need for a more imaginative and aggressiveapproach on the part of AFC and AgBank to the distribution of productioncredit and fertilizer. The number of approved retailers should be increasedand they should be used as channels for production credit as well as inputsupply. This would have the advantages of improving the flexibility of timingof credit distribution, of increasing the credit outlets, and of improvingrepayment because of the informal linkage of credit, input supply and marketingof production through the same person. It is important, however, that thenumber of approved retailers be increased sufficiently to allow competitionand so ensure that individual merchants are not able to exploit a monopolyposition. Other actions by AFC and AgBank would also be needed to expandfertilizer storage and distribution facilities, to make both credit andfertilizer available on a year-round basis, to develop processing companiesand cooperatives as channels for input supply and credit, and to introducecash production loans to cover family and hired labor costs, particularly forindustrial crops.

Improved Seed

3.07 The production and distribution of improved seed is also of crucialimportance to future yield increases. Foundation seed is raised on reslearchfarms, where much of the seed multiplication is also carried out. Foundationseed is also distributed to some private commercial seed producers, but respon-sibility for general seed distribution is with the Extension Department.Seed for cotton is made available free by the gin operators. A major eifortis being made to increase the supply of improved seeds. In the Helmand andArghandab Valleys, improved wheat seed will be raised on about 300 ha and im-proved cotton seed on about 100 ha.

3.08 The proportion of irrigated wheat land planted with improvedvarieties increased from 10% in 1971/72 to 33% in 1974/75. At the rate of140 kg per ha, 97,000 tons of seed would be required for 50% of the presentirrigated wheat area. There is also a great need for the introduction andtesting of high yielding, drought-resistant wheat varieties in the rainfed

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areas to replace the native varieties. Cotton yields previously obtainedwere low, partly because of poor quality seed, but now sufficient plantingseed of the high yielding varieties Acala 15-17C and Acala 442 is availableto supply all the cotton areas. A number of new cotton varieties are alsobeing tested at the research farms.

3.09 Several dwarf, fertilizer-responsive varieties of rice are beingtested at the research farms, but no improved variety is being grown byfarmers. The local varieties have a marked tendency to lodge. Some varietytrials are also being carried out with sunflowers and sugar beets. In addi-tion to the multiplication of improved vegetable seeds, improved varietiesof fruit trees are being raised on the research farms for distribution tofarmers. Unbudded seedlings are made available free of cost, but a smallcharge is made for budded seedlings.

3.10 With the expected growth in demand, it will be necessary to expandfacilities for the multiplication and distribution of improved seed. TheExtension Department, which is currently responsible, does not seem to be themost appropriate agency for seed multiplication, and consideration should begiven to transfering this function to the AFC. Multiplication could be carriedout by private and Government farms under contract and AFC would clean, gradeand treat the seed before distribution through its retail network. Adaptiveresearch and production of foundation seed should continue to be the respon-sibility of the Research Department, while the Extension Department could begiven responsibility for licencing and registration to ensure quality control.

Agricultural Extension

3.11 As in many countries, the extension service is inadequate to meetthe wide and pressing range of needs of the agricultural sector. The taskof extension is made difficult by the scattered distribution of production,poor communications, the low level of formal education of the rural population(of which fewer than 5% are literate) and the poorly developed research,credit and input supply services. The Extension Department itself also hasmany weaknesses: the great majority of agents lack much formal or any agricul-tural training; their working and transportation facilities are inadequate;and the extension program and utilization of staff is poorly designed.

3.12 It is clearly not feasible for Afghanistan to develop a comprehensive,effective extension service in the foreseeable future. It is, however, pos-sible for the existing limited resources to be used much more effectively thanthey have been in the past, and for a start to be made now in introducingchanges that will support the long-term development of an effective extensionservice. Although the majority of the extension staff are insufficientlytrained or experienced to provide agricultural advice or to respond to farmers'questions, they would be able to promote simple basic packages of productionimprovements. At the same time, the small number of trained and experiencedstaff would be sufficient to prepare, in conjunction with the Research Depart-ment, these basic packages. The staff of the Extension Department could

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therefore be used much more effectively by developing production "campaigns",based on recommendations prepared by the experienced staff or subject matterspecialists and promoted by the untrained staff or field workers.

3.13 The campaigns should be devised and implemented at a regional level,on the basis of local cropping patterns, practices and conditions, and shouldbe simple and proven. It can be expected that irrigated wheat would be thepriority crop in most regions. The campaigns should start with very basic,very simple recommendations, relating, for example, to seed variety, fertilizerapplication, time of planting and seed spacing. As improvements are achieved,more sophisticated techniques would be gradually introduced in subsequentcampaigns. It is essential that the recommendations reflect local and notnational conditions and needs, that the timing of the campaign coincides withthe local crop calendar, and that the related services (input supply, credit)are available. The subject matter specialists would be responsible for co-ordinating their work with that of other agencies, particularly AFC, AgBankand the Research Department.

3.14 The task of the field workers - the bulk of the existing staff ofthe Extension Department - should be to promote the campaigns. This wouldbe done through word-of-mouth, through village level meetings, and throughwider use of demonstration plots. No specialized agricultural knowledgewould be necessary for this task, but field workers would receive a programof in-service training, to inform them of the content and relevance of thepackage that they are to promote. Several short training sessions would beneeded through the cropping season, each related to the upcoming stages ofthe agricultural cycle. The subject matter specialists would be responsiblefor holding these training sessions. The most important aspects of the pro-motion of the campaigns is that the field workers should spend all theirworking time in the field and that they should be enthusiastic and eager intheir work. To encourage this, field workers should, to the extent possible,be provided with village accommodation and with some form of transportation.A system of salary bonuses should be introduced, linked to performance. In-creasingly, field workers should be recruited and employed locally, to in-crease local participation in the program and improve its responsiveness tolocal conditions. Field agents should be supplemented by village workers -progressive farmers recruited from the village who would feed information andideas to the other members of the village. They would receive some trainingand be paid a small salary, and would continue to work their farms.

3.15 The long-term objective of developing an effective extension servicewill require greater emphasis to be given than now to the form and quality ofagricultural training. In addition to improvements in the agricultural second-ary schools, a systematic program for in-service training of existing staffis needed. This should include selection of candidates with prospects, initia-tion of regular training sessions, secondment to other agencies, and assignmentto full-time training or education if necessary. All training activitiesshould emphasize the applied, practical aspects of agricultural production,and should concentrate very much on local production practices and problems.

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Agricultural Research

3.16 The effectiveness of the agricultural research program is alsoseverly coistrained by the lack of staff and funds, but again better usecould be made of existing resources through improved organization of theprogram and a selective emphasis on high-priority work areas. It is notrealistic to expect Afghanistan to mount a fully comprehensive research pro-gram in the foreseeable future. It is suggested, therefore, that the researchprograms concentrate on three areas of activity: local-level field trials onthe major food crops; joint programs of applied and adaptive research withthe processing companies for the major industrial crops; and production offoundation seed and planting material for the principal field crops, fruitsand vegetable.

3.17 There is a substantial body of knowledge available internationallyon the major food crops, and the Research Department should concentrate onadapting this knowledge to local conditions. A large number of field trialsshould be established to determine optimal basic production practices. Theseshould include appropriate varieties, fertilizer applications, seeding timeand spacing, timing of irrigation, weed and pest control, etc. These fieldtrials should be closely coordinated with the work of the Extension Department,with the objective of determining the appropriate set of prodtuction practicesto be promoted through the production campaigns. The most important elementin this work should be to ensure that field trials are carried out at a locallevel, and not just at a regional or national level, to ensure that therecommendations thus obtained really do apply to local conditions.

3.18 A considerable increase in the production of industrial crops canbe expected over the next few years, and expansion of processing facilitiesis anticipated. The Research Department could ensure optimum use of its staffif it were to implement its work on industrial crops through the processingcompanies. This would improve the feed-back between the Research Departmentand the farmers, should ensure that priority problems are being tackled, andshould allow a more effective dissemination of research findings. The ResearchDepartment should continue its program for the production of foundation seedand planting material, as this requires specialized skills. Seed multiplica-tion, however, should not be a part of the Research Department's activities.

IV. WHEAT PRICE STABILIZATION PROGRAY

3.19 Looking ahead to higher levels of wheat production, it is necessaryto consider the price stabilization policy that the Government may follow andthe storage capacity needed for its implementation. There are two objectivesof a price stabilization program that may be considered separately forsimplicity, even though they are interrelated. One objective is to reduceintra-seasonal price spreads so that they will not greatly exceed costs ofcarrying wheat for the numbers of months involved. The second objective is

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to reduce annual price variations and ensure an adequate supply of wheat fordomestic consumption by carrying over supplies from years of above averageproduction for release in subsequent years of below average production. Thisis more costly because of the longer storage periods involved and more com-plicated because the sequence of good and bad crop years is unpredictable.The establishment of an effective wheat stabilization program is neverthelessurgently needed to ensure stable prices to producers and to secure a sufficientsupply of wheat to meet the country's domestic consumption requirements forthis staple food.

3.20 The Food Procurement Department (FPD) of the Ministry of Financehas responsibility for carrying out the Government's wheat price stabiliza-tion policies as well as for meeting the requirements of various publicinstitutions and programs. This includes supplies for the military servicesand for other public agencies as well as distributions to civil servants atsubsidized prices. In the drought years 1970-72, there were no domestic wheatpurchases by FPD; distributions were from carryover stocks and imports. In1971/72, imports were at an all time high of 227,000 tons and distributionswere also at a record volume of 204,000 tons. In 1972/73, domestic procure-ment was resumed even though imports were 188,000 tons. In 1973/74, with avery large crop and declining prices, domestic procurement became a signifi-cant instrument of price support as well as a means of meeting Governmentprogram requirements no longer covered in full by imports.

3.21 FPD is currently supporting wheat prices by accepting wheat deliveryto its silos at Af 45 per seer (Af 6.4 per kg). Because of lack of buyingpoints, limited management and organizational capacity and inadequate financ-ing, however, the level of FPD intervention is insufficient to maintain wheatprices, and many farmers are receiving prices considerably below the supportprice. FPD has 195,000 tons of modern storage capacity in the form of silosand hangers, plus some 84,000 tons in the form of godowns which are not suit-able for storage over long periods. So far storage capacity has not been alimiting factor in FPD's operations.

3.22 To operate an effective price support program, the implementingagency must have sufficient storage capacity available at harvest time. There-fore, the silos and hangars should not be filled with carryover grain at thistime. If the new crop is sub-normal, price support purchases may not benecessary or may be limited in volume. This may be the signal for arrangingimports to arrive later in the crop consumption year if reserves are inadequateto cover the shortfall in production. Conversely, in the case of a bumpercrop necessitating a large volume of price support purchases, it may be neces-sary to arrange export sales.

3.23 Reserves would provide sufficient time to make necessary arrange-ments to export or import after the size of the new crop had been determined.This assumes that it will be more economical to use the world market at cer-tain times than to carry reserves large enough to eliminate any need for

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imports. It would take very large reserves indeed to meet all requirements.Two or more successive bumper crops might overtax storage facilities and havea depressing effect on prices that would discourage production, if there wereno exports.

3.24 The German Economic Advisory Group in the Ministry of Planning hasmade a careful analysis of wheat storage capacity needs for a stabilizationprogram. 1/ The study concluded that 190,000 tons of additional capacityfor long-term storage will be needed by 1982, and recommended that this beinstalled in two phases. Phase 1, involving 90,000 tons capacity in the formof hangars, would be installed during 1975-78; and Phase 2, involving 70,000tons of hangars and 30,000 tons of silo storage, during 1978-81. The costshave been estimated at Af. 225 million (US$4.1 million) for Phase 1, andAf. 250 million (US$4.5 million) for Phase 2. The regional distribution ofthe incremental storage would need to be as follows:

('000 tons)

Northeastern 9Northern 19Western 9Southern 55Central 65Eastern 33

Total 190

3.25 In addition to the costs of additional fixed investments implementa-tion of an effective stabilization program will require financing of grainpurchases as well as all operational costs. A maximum inventory of 400,000tons of wheat at the current support price level represents an investment inthe order of Af 2.4 billion (US$44 million). This is a considerable fundingproblem for the Government to handle in a non-inflationary manner. Variousalternatives are presented and discussed in another paper by the GermanEconomic Advisory Group, but none seems fully satisfactory for the period inquestion. In addition to resolution of the problem of financing, the implemen-tation of such a program will require considerably greater management andorganizational capacity than FP0 currently possesses.

1/ Dr. K.H. Hendrikson, Preliminary Assessment of the Need for AdditionalWheat Storage Facilities in Afghanistan (First Draft), German EconomicAdvisory Group, Ministry of Planning, February 1974.

ANNEX 17pendix A

CLIMATIC DATA FOR SELECTED TOWNS TN AFGHANISTAN

AverageAnnual Years Mean Date of Mean NumberPrecipi- of First & Last of Frost-

Station Elevation tation Record Killing Frost free Days(m)T (mm)

Faizabad 1,200 548 8 Nov 4 - Mar 24 1,224

Kunduz 455 371 13 Nov 27 - Mar 13 258

Baghlan 510 271 13 Nov 17 - Mar 12 249

Mazar-i-Sharif 378 197 13 Nov 16 - Mar 7 253

Maimana 815 376 12 Nov 11 - Mar 19 236

Herat 964 207 13 Nov 3 - Mar 19 228

Farah 660 75 11 Nov 20 - Feb 22 270

Kandahar 1,005 180 8 Nov 20 - Feb 21 271

Lashkargah 780 106 11 Nov 16 - Feb 19 269

Jalalabad 566 172 13 Dec 4 - Jan 22 315

Ghazni 2,183 296 13 Oct 12 - Apr 6 188

Khost 1,146 492 9 Nov 25 - Feb ]J3 284

Kabul 1,803 346 13 Oct 26 - Mar 29 210

Jabul Seraj 1,630 510 10 Dec 6 - Feb 24 284

Salang North 3,366 1,169 11 - -

Salang South 3,172 1,168 9 Oct 4 - May 19 137

Scurce: Central Statistical Office, November 1974.

MONTIELY MEAN TEMPERATURES AT SELECTED RECORDING STATIONS

Alti- Jan. Feb. March April May June July August Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Station tude(m) -----------------_--------------------- Centigrade -----------------------------------------

Kabul 1,763 -2.4 1.5 6.6 11.4 17.3 22.8 25.2 24.3 19.6 12.4 4.6 -0.5

Herat 975 1.8 6.8 10.6 15.3 21.5 26.8 29.6 27.4 22.2 15.8 7.9 3.4

Mazar-i-Sharif 325 2.0 7.1 10.9 16.7 23.5 29.2 26.2 29.6 23.3 15.9 8.1 3.1

Maimana 900 3.1 6.3 8.7 13.6 18.9 24.5 27.0 24.6 19.0 13.2 7.7 3.3

Kandahar 1,007 4.3 9.8 12.3 19.0 25.0 29.7 31.3 29.1 - 16.5 10.1 5.9

Jalalabad 550 7.0 16.6 15.9 20.2 27.3 33.2 33.6 32.7 28.2 21.5 13.2 8.5

Farah 750 6.0 10.6 16.0 20.4 25.8 31.4 34.1 31.2 25.6 18.5 11.5 7.8

Source: Central Statistical Office, November 13, 1974.

ANNEX 1A ppendix C

AREA OF PRINCIPAL CROPS

EstimatedCrop 1972/73 1°773/74 1974/75

-____________ -o00 ha ---------------

Wheat 2,200 2,300 2,350Corn 470 484 484Rice 210 210 210Barley 350 355 355Cotton 45 , 71 95Sagar Beet 5 5 5Oil Seeds 42 52 52Vegetables 92 92 92Fruits 136 137 137

Total 3,590 3,706 3,780

Source: Ministry of Planning

ANNEX 1Appendix D

TRENDS IN PRODUCTION OF PRINCIPAL CROPS

ProjectedCrop 1969/70 170/71 1971/72 1972/73 1973/74 1974/75

--- 000 tons

Wheat 2,454 2,081 1,951 2,500 2,760 2,867Barley 365 370 355 350 355 355Maize 785 667 670 700 711 711Rice 407 366 250 400 414 414

Grain CropsSubtotal 4,011 3,454 3,230 3,950 4,240 4,347

Cotton (unginned) 85 76 63 58 105 150Sugar Beets 68 62 60 66 57 50Sugarcane 60 55 50 55 58 65Oilseeds 37 35 26- 34 38 boFruits 842 809 650 800 820 840Vegetables 671 626 725 658 680 700

Note: Figures for 1975 are from Annual Economic and Social Development Planfor 1975, except that anticipated production of sugar beets has beenreduced from earlier estimate of 65,000 tons to 50,000 tons. followingdiscussions with MA. These figures, therefore, differ slightly fromthose given in IBRD Report No. 681a-Af: 'Current Economic Position andProspects of Afghanistan', July 7, 1975.

Source: Ministry of Planning.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 2

LIVESTOCK

Table of Contents

Page No.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...... ..................... i-ii

I. BACKGROUND ........................................ 1

II. LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION .............................. 2

A. Sheep ............ ............................ 2B. Goats ............ ............................ 5C. Cattle ........... ............................ 7D. Poultry .......... ............................ 8

III. FEED SUPPLY SOURCES AND PATTERNS .... .............. 8

IV. SUPPORTING SERVICES ............................... 9

A. Extension and Research ....................... 9B. Training ..................................... 11

V. CURRENT LIVESTOCK PROJECTS ..... ................... 11

VI. CONSTRAINTS TO LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION ....... ........ 13

VII. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT ............ 14

A. Animal Health and Disease Prevention ......... 15B. Animal Husbandry and Health Training ......... 17C. Study of Rangeland Utilization and Development 18D. Improved Utilization of Crop By-Products ..... 19E. Expansion and Improvement of the Karakul

Industry ............ ......................... 21

APPENDICES

A. Approximate Sheep Distribution by Breeds and Migration Routes (Map).B. Inventory and Production Estimates of Afghan Sheep.

I

ANNEX 2Page i

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMEW

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 2

LIVESTOCK

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

i. The harsh climate and topography of Afghanistan severely restrictagricultural activity, so that about two-thirds of the population must relyon livestock raising for a major portion of their income and food requirements.Livestock production accounts for approximately 10% of the country's grossdomestic product and provides 30% of total export earnings. Draft power forcrop production is chiefly supplied by oxen. Horses, donkeys and camels areimportant for transportation.

ii. The severe 2-year drought during 1970-72 reduced the sheep and goatpopulation from about 25 million to 15 million. Numbers have since increasedslightly to some 14 million sheep and 3 million goats. A considerable declinein livestock production followed the decline in numbers, and immediate actionmust be taken to restore former production levels. This must be brought aboutby raising production per head rather than attempting to restore numbers topre-drought levels. Ideally, the sheep population would be raised to 16 -18 million and goat numbers reduced to 2.5 million over the next 5 - 7 years.

iii. Five projects are recommended for early implementation to overcomethe decline in production caused by the recent drought and to make the live-stock industries less vulnerable to future droughts. The interdependency ofthese investments must be recognized.

iv. In the past, extremely inadequate feed supplies have been the majorconstraint to animal production. This problem has now been somewhat alleviated,since sharply reduced livestock numbers have allowed the regeneration of largeareas of pastureland. The restoration and more efficient utilization ofpastureland, which will continue to be the source for at least 80% of the feedfor all livestock, must be carefully planned to meet the requirements of theincreasing numbers.

v. Efforts should be made to reduce the high death rates caused by fre-quent outbreaks of disease. Government programs should include the estab-lishment of seven Regional Animal Health Centers, and distribution of vaccinesand drugs should be expanded.

ANNEX 2Page ii

vi. The sources of winter feed supplements will be strictly limited, par-ticularly as the country strives for self-sufficiency in human food requirements.The efficient use of the by-products of the cotton and sugar beet industriesmust be considered as a way of meeting a large part of breeding ewe require-ments during the critical winter months.

vii. The rapid recovery of Karakul sheep numbers must be encouraged sothat the contribution to export earnings can be expanded.

viii. The success of all improvement projects will largely depend on theavailability of locally trained experts to implement them. Revised animalhusbandry and health training programs are urgently needed, at both thetechnical and producer level.

ix. In carrying out the five projects, priority should be given ini-tially to those provinces whose production will support IDA's LivestockDevelopment Project in Herat. The successful implementation of the HeratProject, together with the projects recommended in this annex, will createmore favorable conditions for implementing projects similar to Herat in otherareas.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RUAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 2

LIVESTOCK

I. BACKGROUND

1.01 Livestock production in Afghanistan accounts for approximately 10%of GDP and contributes about 30% of the country's export earnings. Ninety-five percent of this export revenue is attributable to the sheep industry(karakul pelts, carpets, wool, skins and casings). Two-thirds of the popula-tion are engaged in some form of livestock-raising. While many of theirhusbandry techniques are well adapted to the harsh environment, modern methodsof disease prevention and parasite control are not practiced. Primitivemethods of fodder conservation and the acute shortage of standing feed inwinter are major causes of the high mortality rates, especially among sheepand goats.

1.02 The country's livestock population for a number of years had beenrelatively stable. The severe 2-year drought of 1970-72 dramatically reducedthe numbers of sheep, goats and cattle. Official estimates of livestocknumbers before and after the drought were as follows:

Livestock Numbers

Pre-drought Post-drought Percent----------- million ------------ Change

Sheep 21.5 12.8 -40Goats 3.2 3.0 -17Cattle 3.6 3.4 - 6Donkeys 1.3 )Horses and Mules 0.4 )Camels 0.3 ) No change or slight increasePoultry 6.0 )

1.03 Mission estimates support these official data, except for cattlewhere numbers appear to be down by 20-25%. Many sheep owners in the north-west and southwest lost as much as 70% of their total flocks and in these areasthe proportion of goats in the flock is now as high as 50-60%. Despite thebetter than average seasonal conditions over the last 2 years, livestock num-bers have risen only slightly because of the necessity for owners to maintaina constant selling program to preserve their liquidity.

1.04 The quantities of livestock products exported during the last 5years are as follows:

ANNEX 2Page 2

Quantity of Exports of Livestock Products

Commodity Unit 1969/70 1970/71 1971/72 1972/73 1973/74

Karakul Skins ('000) 1,693 1,444 1,669 1,189 957Wool (tons) 5,225 5,202 6,445 4,345 3,295Hides and Skins ('000) 2,375 1,584 1,961 2,074 2,323Casings ('000 coils) 1,467 8,173 4,016 3,254 1,969Carpets ('000 m2) 383 341 475 574 512

1.05 The drop in export quantities over this period was offset by higherprices. With the prices of most of these products now falling, the recoveryof former productivity in all aspects of animal production takes on specialsignificance for the country's economy.

II. LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION

A. Sheep

Population

2.01 Despite the 40-45% reduction in numbers due to the drought, thesheep industry is still the country's major export earner and in 1974 contri-buted 28% of total export income. Sheep meat makes up the major portion ofthe red meat eaten in the country and sheep's milk is a significant portionof the diet of many families, especially the nomads.

2.02 The main breeds of sheep and their approximate locations are asfollows (see Appendix A for migration routes):

Main Breeds of Afghan Sheep

Breed Principal Locations

Karakul Northern ProvincesGhiljai South, Southwest, EastBaluchi Southwest, SouthHazaragie CentralGedic NortheastArabi (Fat-rumped) NorthTurki (Fat-rumped) North

The breeds have evolved over a long time in their particular areas, with littlecross-breeding. Many of them are deficient in one or another productioncharacteristic; for example, the Turki produces inferior wool and the Hazaragie

ANNEX 2Page 3

poor quality mutton. The Karakul, because of its value for pelt productionfrom young lambs, is considered to be a special animal, and while emphasis isplaced on-selection for better pelts within this breed, its other productivecharacteristics receive little attention.

Production Systems

2.03 Karakul flocks, which account fpr about 30% of total sheep numbers,are restricted to a region extending from Eastern Herat Province eastwardacross the provinces north of the Hindu Kush. These flocks winter in thelowlands and migrate to the Hazarajat and Badakshan Provinces for summergrazing. Some 20% of sheep of the other breeds are kept close to theirowners' villages. These sheep depend almost exclusively on crop residues_andnearby (3-10 km) range grazing. They are stabled for 3-4 months above 1,500 m,relying on conserved fodder for winter feed. The remaining 50% of the sheepare divided between the true nomads and transhumants. The former migrate longdistances while the latter are more restricted in their movements betweenwinter and summer grazing areas.

2.04 To adapt to the availability of seasonal feed supplies, most matingtakes place in October/November, with March the main month for lambing. Milk-ing of ewes by the women and children is concentrated in the 4-8 week periodbefore the flocks begin their migration to the mountains. The main shearingfor all flocks takes place in April/May. It is common for many flocks in thenorthern and northwestern provinces to be shorn again in October on their wayback to winter pasture.

2.05 Individual flocks follow the same migratory paths each year. Oneor two male members of the stock owner's family take the transhumant flocksto their spring and summer pastures, or professional shepherds may be hiredto take the sheep of a number of families. The actual migration varies con-siderably, with travel time ranging from one to seven weeks. In winter themajority of flocks are grazed on fallow cropping areas near the lowland vil-lages, or taken out a distance of 3-5 km on nearby rangeland. When snowcovers the ground for more than one to two days, they are kept in the vil-lages and fed a small quantity of straw and range hay. Major sheep salestake place at the end of summer, and while some 5-6 months old ramllambs maybe sold, the majority are carried over for sale at 18 months to 2 years ofage.

2.06 The following table sets out the approximate average and range ofproduction coefficients of Afghan sheep flocks. Wide variations in productivecharacteristics between breeds could be expected under optimum conditions,but since conditions are seldom optimum, the variations are small.

ANNEX 2Page 4

Sheep production Coefficients

AverageTrait Unit Measurement Range Remarks

ReproductivePerformance

Ewes producinglive lambs % 70-75 50-90Twinning rate % 0 0-3Age first mating months - 18-36Sires % 3 1-12

Death RatesAdult % 20 5-50 High figures during con-

tagious disease outbreaks.0-12 months % 30 15-75

Wool ProductionMature ewe kg 1.5 1.0-2.56 month lamb kg 0.5 0.2-0.7

Milk ProductionMature ewe kg/day 0.3 0.15-0.5Lactation period days 40-50 30-80 Time actually milked.

Body Weight6-8 month ram lamb kg 20 16-28Mature ewe kg 40 30-50

Turnoff Rate % 12 10-20 Percentage of flocks sold.

2.07 The low turnoff rates are chiefly a result of poor reproductiveperformance and high death rates. The owner's desire to hold sheep as longas possible as a sign of wealth or to compensate for losses from disease ordrought also contributes to this low figure. Inventory and production esti-mates for a typical mutton and wool producing flock of 100 sheep are given inAppendix B, page 1.

Karakul Production and Marketing

2.08 Of particular importance to the livestock economy of the country isKarakul pelt production. The provinces north of the Hindu Kush, with theirhigher rainfall and better pastures, are the traditional grazing areas of theKarakul. In this region, the finest Karakul pelts in the world are produced,the grey and golden colors commanding premium prices each year at the Londonauctions.

ANNEX 2Page 5

2.09 The Karakul is a true multipurpose animal. Lambs can be killedwithin 3 days of birth for their pelts or carried through for mutton produc-tion. Karakul wool is used exclusively in the village carpet industry. Ewesare better milk producers than most other Afghan breeds, but this productionis not fully utilized.

2.10 Flock management is similar to that of other herds except thatcareful selection of retained breeding stock must be made in the first 3days of life, when the majority of male lambs and 25-33% of females areslaughtered. The time at which a lamb is killed for its pelt is critical.These skills together with skin flailing and curing techniques have beenhanded down over many centuries by the people who originally brought Karakulsto the country.

2.11 During the recent drought, Karakul numbers dropped from 6.5 millionto 3.8 million, and since 1972, the number of skins legally exported has de-clined from 1.8 million to 1.1 million, despite the fact that illegal exportshave been considerably reduced. Over the same period, the average price ofskins has risen from US$11.65 to US$15.42, while the retail price of muttonin Kabul has risen from Af 34 per kg to Af 60 per kg. This difference isresulting in a greater proportion of Karakul ram lambs being kept for muttonand wool production.

2.12 In 1966, the Karakul Institute was established to promote the exportmarketing of pelts. Since then it has become involved in skin grading and isnow planning to build its own curing facilities. Some 13 Karakul cooperativeshave been established under the guidance of the Institute, with mixed success.

Diseases

2.13 All diseases and parasites of sheep endemic to the Middle East arepresent in Afghanistan. Those of major economic importance are: (a) viral -sheep pox and foot-and-mouth disease;, (b). bacterial - anthrax, enterotoxemia,blackleg and foot rot; (c) internal parasites - liver fluke, osterbatagia,trichostrongylus and dictyocaulus; and (d) external parasites - ticks, liceand mites. Many disease outbreaks and acute parasitic infestations occurduring the winter and early spring when flocks suffer from severe under-nutrition. Mortality rates are heavy, especially among young animals. Someflocks are vaccinated by technicians of the Government Veterinary Serviceswhen disease outbreaks are identified. No routine control programs are car-ried out. Parasitic infestations are seldom treated, since only small quan-tities of anthelmintics and tickicides are available.

B. Goats

Production

2.14 The goat population is mainly raised along with the sheep flocks,except in the forested eastern provinces of Nuristan and Paktia where, due

ANNEX 2Page 6

to the harsh topography, goat flocks predominate. Methods of husbandry aresimilar to those for sheep. A higher proportion of female goats is leftbehind in the villages during spring and summer migration so that they canbe milked. Since goats eat almost any type of plant, they are separatedand fed range hay during the winter months, while sheep receive cerealstraw. In the eastern provinces there are small flocks of Kashmir goats,whose hair commands high prices. Unfortunately, the spread of thesevaluable animals to other areas where the predominant type is the black,coarse-haired goat has not been encouraged.

2.15 While goats are often considered to be an undesirable adjunct tothe sheep flocks since they are in direct competition for scarce feed re-sources, they serve useful productive purposes: (a) they contribute signi-ficantly to village milk and meat production; (b) their skins are soughtafter in the leather handicraft industries; and (c) their hair is used in thevillages for making rope and floor mats. Also, they are highly useful inmoving sheep flocks, as they always lead sheep to and from their grazing areasand encourage them to travel much farther in search of feed. Although astrong case can be made for reducing the goat population in many of the bettersheep-producing areas, this will be difficult to achieve as long as goat andsheep meat are sold at the same price and flock owners receive such low r.-iLf'sfor their sheep wool.

2.16 Approximately 80% of breeding females produce young during the earlyspring, and 5% produce twins. Adult death rates run at 10% per annum, whilein the first year of life death rates are 20%. During outbreaks of contagiousdiseases, death rates may run as high as 50%, especially among young goats.All young females are normally reared and mated at 18 months of age; in dryseasons, however, a high proportion of these may be sold in an effort toreduce overall numbers. Females are milked for 70-80 days and produce approxi-mately 400 g of milk per day. During an average lactation a goat will provideabout 120% more milk than a ewe.

2.17 Adult goats are shorn once a year and produce 0.5 kg per animal.The majority of young male goats are sold at 4-8 months of age with a live-weight of 12-18 kg. Adult females reach an approximate liveweight of 30 kgat 3 years of age. The turnoff rate in goat flocks is 20-30% per year.

Diseases

2.18 Although goats are susceptible to the same diseases as sheep, theirresistance to infection is higher. Pox and contagious pleuro-pneumonia arediseases to which goats are particularly susceptible. Weight losses due toparasitic infestations are less for goats than for sheep.

ANNEX 2Page 7

C. Cattle

Production

2.19 Cattle are kept throughout the country as the major source of draftpower for agriculture. Cows are the main contributor of milk products, whichare important in the diets of villagers and nomadic families. Cattle droppingsare used as fuel in many villages where wood is scarce.

2.20 The 4 indigenous breeds of Afghan cattle are the Kandahari, Sistani,Watani and Kuniri. The Kandahari, found chiefly in the southern provinces, isa versatile strain of Bos indicus particularly suitable as a draft animal aswell as being the best local breed for milk production. The Kuniri is a smallanimal indigenous to the eastern provinces, where it has adapted well to theharsh environment, utilizing the small amounts of native grasses and shrubsas its major source of feed. The Watani and the Sistani are intermediatein size between the other 2 breeds and are found in the northern and westernprovinces.

2.21 Oxen and lactating cows, as valuable family assets, receive prioritywith the limited supplies of available feedstuffs. They are fed almost exclu-sively in their stables, on a ration of cereal straw, range hay, and smallamounts of alfalfa and clover grown especially for them. Dry cows and younganimals are collected as a village herd and taken out each day to graze sur-rounding rangelands. They receive a small supplement of hay and straw duringthe winter. In some villages dry cows are taken on the summer migration withthe sheep flocks.

2.22 Attempts to have cows calve in late summer/early autumn so as toprovide a fresh milk supply during the winter seldom succeed, since the poornutritional status of most herds in winter and early spring prevents conceptionover this period. Mbst calves are born in late spring and are allowed to takesome milk from the cow each day throughout her lactation. Reproductive per-formance in all breeds is poor. Heifers seldom calve before 3 years of ageand most cows produce a calf only every second year. With better nutrition,this increases to 2 calves in 3 years. In-breeding is often a problem due tothe small size of individual herds.

2.23 Annual deaths rates in adult cattle are 6-8%. Some 15%lof calvesdie during the first year of life, due both to malnutrition and outbreaks ofcontagious diseases. Milk production per cow varies considerably. The lacta-tion period can be from 5 to 9 months. In an average lactation of 6 months,400-450 kg of milk is produced.

ANNEX 2Page 8

Diseases

2.24 The most important contagious diseases of cattle are rinderpest,foot-and-mouth disease, tuberculosis and brucellosis. The recent outbreakof rinderpest has been brought under control, following an extensive vaccina-tion program over the last 3 years. Losses from this disease ran as high as30% in some provinces. Foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks frequently occur andaccount for high losses among young calves. As cattle spend much of their timebeing hand-fed in enclosures, internal parasitic infestations are a constantproblem and cause considerable losses in productivity. In older animals acertain amount of immunity has been built up to tickborne diseases such astheileriosis, but these can cause heavy mortality in calves.

D. Poultry

2.25 Most of the estimated 6 million birds are owned by individual familiesin the towns and villages. There are some commercial units close to Kabul, butthere has not yet been any significant expansion of intensive production becauseconcentrated high energy, high protein feedstuffs are unavailable in commercialquantities. Commercial poultrymen buy wheat and corn through normal channels,mainly the bazaars, in direct competition with people buying these grains forfood.

2.26 Poultry in the villages are fed on meagre rations of cracked grain,seed hulls, and food scraps. They spend most of their time fossicking amonganimal manures and on some crop stubbles after sheep have eaten them out. Eggsare an important contribution to family food supplies, and male chickens areraised for eating. Total production is strictly limited by the availabilityof feed.

III. FEED SUPPLY SOURCES AND PATTERNS

3.01 Shortage of feed throughout the year, but particularly in winter, isthe chief limitation to increased livestock production. The 40 million ha ofrangeland grazed under routine migratory patterns is the major source of feedsupplies, especially for sheep and goats. There are 3 basic types of pasture:(a) winter pastures, usually below 1,000 m and mainly located in the north,west and south; (b) the intermediate areas of spring and autumn pastures,between 1,000 and 2,000 m; and (c) the summer pastures, above 2,000 m in thecentral and northeastern provinces. These pastures, especially the winter,spring and autumn pastures, have been seriously overgrazed. In those areaswhere livestock numbers were so dramatically reduced during the 2-year drought,there are indications that regeneration of more productive species of plantsis taking place. This has been assisted by 2 seasons of above average preci-pitation. A comprehensive survey of pasture areas is needed in order that a

ANNEX 2Page 9

sound program can be drawn up to increase their productivity and to controlthe movement of flocks during migration.

3.02 Crop residues, especially straw from wheat and barley, are an im-portant part of the animal diet, particularly in winter. Very little cerealcrop residues are fed in the field, as much as possible being cut and stored.The number of animals that can be kept by a village family is set by theamount of straw and range hay that can be gathered and stored for winter feed.

3.03 Range hay is made during the summer after the cereal harvest. Theprincipal species available are Alhagi, Onobrichis and Artemisia, none ofwhich make a high quality hay. These species are somewhat unplatable, espe-cially to sheep. They are sometimes crushed and mixed with cereal straw.

3.04 No concerted effort has yet been made to collect, process and dis-tribute the by-products of the cotton and sugar beet industries. At present,only those farmers close to the processing plant have access to these products.They are usually fed to cows and draft animals. Cottonseed meal and sugarbeet pulp have a high energy value and should-be fed in small quantities as asupplement to the roughage provided by cereal straws and range hay. Grainis seldom fed to animals: wheat, barley, and maize are used chiefly for humanconsumption and only small quantities are fed to poultry.

3.05 Small quantities of fodder crops are cultivated, normally under irri-gation, and are cut and fed green to oxen, horses and cows. Chief among theseare alfalfa, red clover and barley. Large areas of these crops are grown closeto the cities and large towns, where they are sold to horse owners. The oppor-tunity for expanding the areas of these crops is limited by the competitionwith grain, cotton and sugar beet production. Some clover and alfalfa aregrown in the highlands where they are made into hay for winter feed foranimals that remain there.

IV. SUPPORTING SERVICES

A. Extension and Research

4.01 The Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department of the Ministry ofAgriculture (MA) is divided into 3 sections; (1) Veterinary Field Services,(2) Vaccine Production Laboratory, and (3) Animal Husbandry. There are 14veterinary graduates and 14 animal husbandry and science graduates working inthe department, all of whom have been trained at foreign universities and mostof whom are stationed in Kabul. There are only 2 qualified Afghan veterina-rians working in northern Afghanistan. Some 273 technicians (qualified aboveninth grade level) are employed as vaccinators and veterinary assistants, ofwhom 22 are stationed in Kabul, 98 in the north and 153 in the south.

ANNEX 2Page 10

4.02 The Veterinary Field Services have 3 major clinics--in Herat,Mazar-i-Sharif, and Jalalabad--with Russian veterinarians assisting in theiroperation. There are 11 minor clinics in other provincial centers. It isproposed to establish other major clinics in Parwan, Kandahar, and Ghazni, andto upgrade existing facilities in Kabul with the assistance of a UNDP project.

4.03 During the last 4 years, the Veterinary Field Services have been in-volved in disease diagnosis and follow-up vaccination programs. Since 1971/72, these Services have administered a total of 5.8 million vaccinations. Therinderpest control program, suppported by FAO in the southern and westernprovinces and Russian veterinarians in the north, has been successfully im-plemented. No outbreaks of rinderpest have been reported during the last18 months.

4.04 The Vaccine Production Laboratory has produced the following vaccines:

Vaccine Production and Costs

Cost perDisease 1972 1973 1974 Dose

---- No. of Doses (Af)

Sheep Pox 255,925 674,050 982,670 1.65Anthrax 1,146,100 247,600 712,600 1.23Blackleg 2,455,000 51,850 143,850 1.92Enterotoxemia (Blacks Disease) 8,000 69,040 45,150 3.12Newcastle Disease 622,950 1,079,750 816,000 1.05Rinderpest (Goat tissue) 8,100

TOTAL 2,286,575 2,122,290 2,700,270

This small laboratory has performed efficiently, despite its limited facilitiesand old equipment. Vaccine costs per dose are comparable with those of otherlaboratories. The laboratory has a nucleus of well-trained staff, and expan-sion of its capacity is justified.

4.05 The Animal Husbandry Section's chief activity is the provision of anartificial insemination service for the cattle industry. Inseminators arestationed at Kabul, Mazar-i-Shariff, Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Ghazni.Records of the number of cows inseminated and conception rates are not avail-able. It is estimated that 15,000 to 18,000 inseminations are performed eachyear, with a conception rate of 40-50%. Communication and transportationfacilities severely limit the areas in which its program can be implemented.

4.06 The Animal Husbandry Section is also responsible for the dairy herdsat the Bolan Farm in Lashkargah, the Bagrami Farm near Kabul, and the dairyfarm at Nangahar. Some useful applied research has been carried out on thesefarms involving crossbreeding of local cows with Holstein, Brown Swiss, Jersey,Sahiwal and Tharparkur bulls. These trials have clearly demonstrated thesuperiority of the Fl, F2 , and F3 generations over native cows.

ANNEX 2Page 11

4.07 During the 1960's a number of sheep breeding trials were carried outunder the guidance of FAO experts, using Karakul and other local breeds. Theseprograms have shown that with careful selection immediate improvement could beattained in color and curl type of pelts. Special nucleus flocks weire estab-lished on 3 Government farms to supply-rams to commercial breeders. Unfor-tunately, flock standards have not been maintained and the ram breeding pro-grams have been discontinued.

4.08 In cooperation with the Chinese, the Animal Husbandry Section isconducting applied research in poultry production and sericulture. Stock fromboth units are now being distributed to the villages.

B. Training

4.09 The Agricultural Science Degree course at Kabul University has noapplied animal science subjects in its curriculum. In 1969, under a UNDPSpecial Fund project, an Animal Health and Production Institute was estab-lished within MAI. A three-year course was designed, with years one and twobeing conducted in Kabul and year three concentrating on practical trainingon the Government farm at Puse Ishan near Baglan. Due to organizational dif-ficulties, the third year had to be deleted, resulting in a two and one-halfyear course with little practical training. In 1973, this course was takenover by MAI's Higher Agricultural Studies Institute, which also conducts theForestry School and a course in Credit and Cooperatives. The curriculum forthe Animal Health and Production course has remained basically the same asthat set up by the UNDP project. There is strong emphasis on theory, partic-ularly in the veterinary science subjects of anatomy, zootechnology andpathology. The animal husbandry subjects, especially nutrition and management,do not receive sufficient emphasis. Practical work and demonstrations areconfined to veterinary clinical diagnosis and treatment.

4.10 Apart from 2 full-time Russian veterinarians, all lecturers are pro-vided by MA staff'on a part-time basis.' This is proving to be a most unsatis-factory arrangement, as these' people are often unavailable. The course istaught in Dari, requiring interpreters for expatriate lecturers. To overcomesome of the language difficulties, English is taught as a compulsory subjectto all students of the Institute. Students must have completed twelfth grade,with examination marks not less than 10% below university entrance level. Atpresent there are 12 students in the first year of the course, and 37 in thesecond year.

V. CURRENT LIVESTOCK PROJECTS

5.01 In the field of animal health, FAO experts under a UNDP program arehelping to upgrade clinical and diagnostic facilities at MA's veterinary

ANNEX 2Page 12

laboratories in Kabul. Vaccine production is also receiving special assistanceunder this program. It is planned to extend the program by setting up RegionalAnimal Health Centers in 4 selected provinces.

5.02 Russian aid and technical assistance is being provided for the es-tablishment of clinical and diagnostic centers in Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat andJalalabad. At this stage, no attempt is being made to study the specificeffects of disease outbreaks on overall flock mortality and production.

5.03 The rinderpest control project has another 6 months to run. Thishas been the most successful campaign of its type carried out in Afghanistan,and has demonstrated that mass vaccination programs are possible despite thesevere limitations of technical manpower, transport facilities, and inexper-ienced administration.

5.04 A wool handling and grading project is being carried out in Kandaharwith FAO technical assistance, in close cooperation with the wool mills andmerchants of the region. Results clearly demonstrate the many advantages ofproper grading and sorting.

5.05 One of the most ambitious livestock projects undertaken in theMiddle East is the IDA-assisted Livestock Development Project in Herat, whichcommenced in April 1974 and is the responsibility of the Herat LivestockDevelopment Corporation together with AgBank. The project provides for: (a)loans to some 1,200 farmers to develop groundwater resources for alfalfa andother fodder crop production, and to increase the yields of grain and othercommercial crops; (b) construction of a slaughterhouse with a capacity of500,000 sheep a year, to begin operations in 1976; (c) refrigerated vehiclesto transport a large proportion of the meat from the slaughterhouse to Tehran;(d) a 300-ha ancillary facility to the slaughterhouse, consisting of a centralfattening area and a demonstration farm; and (f) an Experimental Range Im-provement Center to conduct research and demonstrations on agricultural andlivestock improvement methods on the ranges.

5.06 The broad aim of this project is to take the surplus male sheep fromthe range at 6-9 months of age and fatten them for slaughter. This would re-lieve the pressure of numbers on denuded pastures, since it is customary torun these surplus animals for another 12 to 18 months; and would also enhancethe value of these cull sheep. Alfalfa (principally green chop) and some hayare to be the major feed components.

5.07 This pioneering program, which could result in a significant break-through in animal production in the area, is now beset by two major limita-tions which were not present during the planning phase. The severe droughtof 1970-72 has reduced sheep numbers in the supply area by at least 50%.Recent increases in producer prices of cotton and fruit as well as the pos-sibility of a sugar factory could create incentives to use the extra waterto increase production of these crops at the expense of alfalfa. Thus, des-pite the fact that meat prices have also shown significant gains, the tendency

ANNEX 2Page 13

of a farmer to persist with and improve the technology of cash crop produc-tion, rather than to embark on a new enterprise requiring different skillssuch as sheep fattening, may be a major constraint even if the profitabilityof the latter can be shown to be higher.

VI. CONSTRAINTS TO LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION

6.01 Lack of available feed, especially during the winter has been themajor constraint to livestock production. As the need to increase food pro-duction has risen with population growth, more land has been brought undercultivation, thus decreasing the area available for grazing. In Afghanistanthis has chiefly come about by an increase in irrigated land, but there hasalso been an expansion of rainfed cropping areas on the more productive range-lands. This expansion of agriculture, together with a rise in stock numbersup until 1971, has resulted in severe overgrazing of all rangeland.

6.02 Disease outbreaks cause high mortality and loss of productivity.Because of the limited numbers of trained technicians and veterinarians work-ing in the field, well-planned disease prevention programs have not been in-itiated. The animals' migration system itself makes it difficult to attemptany systematic program of disease prevention. MA's technical staff are nottrained to provide proper extension services. This has resulted in lack ofcommunication and cooperation from flock owners when improvement programshave been attempted.

6.03 The lack of all-weather feeder roads means that many communities areisolated from the principal cities and towns for a long period, especiallyduring the winter and spring. Vehicular transport facilities are scarce,impeding the movement of livestock to markets. MA's shortage of veh'iclesplaces severe limitations on the movements of personnel in carrying out im-portant field activities such as vaccination programs.

6.04 A number of traditional practices-of livestock producers stand inthe way of increased production. The animals themselves are considered as asource of wealth and are sold or bartered only when the family requires readycash or food. It is normal practice to keep as many animals as possLible incase high losses occur due to drought or disease outbreaks. The feeding ofsupplements of cereal straw and range hay is chiefly to avoid deathlratherthan to increase profits from faster growth rates or higher fertilitly. Theconcept of running fewer animals and ensuring higher overall production frombetter feeding is not considered. The uncertainty of land tenure and thecommon ownership of the natural grasslands mean that no attempt is made toimprove or manage these areas in order to increase their productivity.

6.05 The Government, while recognizing the urgent need to stimulatelivestock production, has given little support in the way of providing capi-tal funds to the industry. - It has overlooked the need for properly trained

ANNEX 2Page 14

personnel at all levels from university graduates to the producers themselvesto undertake the programs necessary to ensure livestock survival and to in-crease production. Centralized administration of the Department of AnimalHealth and Production impedes the performance of its extension function.

VII. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

7.01 With sheep numbers approximately 40% below those of 3 years ago,every effort should be made to increase them as quickly as possible, in orderto help restore former production levels. However, it is not recommendedthat sheep numbers return to 22 million, at which level the rangelands wereheavily overstocked, but numbers should be brought up to 16-18 million over5-7 years.

7.02 A well-designed disease prevention program will greatly assist inreducing the mortality rate and losses in productivity. The technology isestablished; vaccines and drugs not produced in Afghanistan can be purchasedelsewhere.

7.03 Increases in livestock production will rely principally on increas-ed feed supplies. Ambitious programs to increase sugar production and to ex-pand the cotton industry are under consideration or already under way. Thesewill compete with fodder crops for the use of irrigated land. Since thecountry is aiming to produce most of its food requirements while increasingcotton and fruit exports, the growing of large areas of irrigated crops tofeed animals does not appear feasible.

7.04 Feed production can be increased by: (a) the restoration and moreefficient use of rangeland pasture; (b) the efficient use of crop residuesand by-products; and (c) the introduction of leguminous fodder crops and pas-ture species into cropping rotations, both under irrigation and in the rain-fed areas. All these strategies involve long-term planning and, in the caseof rangeland development and fodder crop production, applied research, to-gether with extensive field trials. A rangeland agency should be establishedto carry out a thorough survey in order to set priorities in the provision ofadditional watering facilities and pasture improvement work throughout thecountry.

7.05 Afghanistan is one of only three important Karakul-producing coun-tries. Its status of leadership must be preserved, for the long-term demandfor luxury items such as Karakul garments seems likely to remain strong. Thisindustry is an important contributor to export income, as well as a providerof large quantities of wool to the carpet industry. Karakul flocks were re-duced by some 46% during the recent drought and a concerted effort is requir-ed to increase production and rebuild numbers to 6-6.5 million. All programsto increase feed supplies and control disease should give the Karakul flockshigh priority.

ANNEX 2Page 15

7.06 Short-term credit for the purchase of breeding ewes in the Karakulflocks and the mutton and wool flocks which will supply sheep to the HeratLivestock Development Program could play an important role in the recovery ofthese flocks. Similar credit facilities for the purchase of winter feed sup-lies would increase survival and production.

7.07 Five projects are recommended for implementation. While all ofthem have been identified previously, they now take on specia&- significancein the light of the reduced livestock numbers following the recent drought.The implementation of these projects will rely heavily on efficient, well-trained graduates and technicians, who are prepared to work under difficultconditions in the field. Few such experts are available in Afghanistan atthe present time. Training courses must be established without delay, so thatin 3-5 years' time this large gap in trained manpower resources will start toclose. In addition, the status of these technicians must be upgraded andtheir salaries increased to encourage them to work in the field.

A. Animal Health and Disease Prevention

7.08 Since the limited trained manpower resources of the Government'sVeterinary and Animal Health Department do not permit a nationwide programto be undertaken immediately, a regional approach should be adopted. SevenRegional Animal Health Centers should be established as the chief aduinistra-tive and diagnostic headquarters of the campaign at Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar,Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif, Ghazni and Kabul. There is no justification for set-ting up provincial animal health centers.

7.09 The present vaccination teams involved in the rinderpest controlprogram, which was due to be completed in 1974, should serve as the nucleusof two teams to commence operations in the Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif regions.Additional technicians must be. trained immediately to enlarge these teams andto staff projects in other areas in later years. It will be essential to con-centrate efforts in the late autumn and winter months, when the transhumantsheep and goat flocks graze in confined areas close to their village'bases;nomadic flocks will also be more accessible at that time, as they graze thewarmer lowland pastures. This timing will ensure maximum protection fromthose diseases and parasite infestations which cause the highest losses inthe winter and early spring.

7.10 The availabilitiy of trained technical staff will impose severelimitations on the implementation and timing of the project. Experiencedpeople with organizational ability from among the villages and tribal groupsmust be encouraged to assist and take responsibility in organizing flocks fortreatment. They must be shown how to vaccinate and drench animals. At theend of the project's second year, they could be made responsible for thedistribution of clostridial vaccines and the care of syringes and drenching

ANNEX 2Page 16

equipment. This would then release a number of technicians for projects inother regions. Flock owners must be encouraged to carry out all simple vac-cination and drenching programs themselves.

7.11 The control of external parasites will require the construction ofplunge dips in some villages and the use of mobile spray races in others.The provision of free vaccines should be the responsibility of the Governmentfor a period of 7-10 years. Drugs for the treatment of internal and externalparasites could be distributed at no cost to flock owners for two years,after which they would be required to pay for them. The importation and dis-tribution of these drugs should be carried out by the Government to enableprices to be controlled.

7.12 The capacity of the Kabul vaccine laboratories should be expandedto provide the additional vaccines required for the project. Outdated equip-ment should be replaced by new plant with increased capacity. Polythenepackaging of vaccine is recommended; this will help to overcome the shortageof glass bottles, solve storage and transport problems, and help limit thenumber of operations in the field since these packs can be connected directlyto automatic syringes. All clostridial vaccines should be produced in poly-valent packs so as to limit the numbers of injections given to each animal.The preparation of tissue culture vaccines, i.e. rinderpest and foot-and-mouth, should not be undertaken for a number of years until the laboratoryhas achieved the production targets of the other vaccines. The relocationof the existing small laboratories under one roof is necessary to increaseoverall production efficiency.

7.13 The introduction of a disease control program could bring about thefollowing changes in an average flock (see Appendix B, page 2):

Production Coefficients for a Wool and Mutton Flock

Without Disease With DiseaseParameter Unit Control Control

Adult Death Rates % 20 12Lamb Death Rates (at 6 months) % 16 10Lambing Rate % 72 80Wool Production (per adult sheep) kg 1.5 1.6Milk Production (per ewe per day) g 300 320

7.14 For a flock of 100 sheep with 53% breeding ewes, the project couldincrease total flock inventory by 10% and could result in a rise in grossincome of Af 14,700 or 48%, based on prices received during October 1974. Theestimated cost of vaccines (including foot-and-mouth) and drenching materialsis Af 5,200, resulting in an increase in net income of 31% or Af 9,500. Ifthis is related to the present national flock of approximately 13.5 millionsheep, an increase in gross income of around Af 1.7 billion could be expectedfrom an outlay on vaccines and-drenches of just over Af 0.7 billion.

ANNEX 2Page 17

B. Animal Husbandry and Health Training

Graduate Training

7.15 The first priority in undertaking animal husbandry and health train-ing programs is to relocate the present course given by the Higher Agricul-tural Studies Institute on its own farm with residential accommodations pro-vided for students and staff. The farm should have a minimum of 200 ha toenable self-contained production units of sheep, dairy cattle, goats andpoultry to be established. Both irrigated and dryland areas should be in-cluded. The farm would be managed by a supervisor responsible for day-to-dayoperations, who would answer directly to the Principal of the new institution.The students would provide most of the labor input.

7.16 The course should run for three years and have degree status. Lec-turers should be provided with individual houses on the farm, and those sec-tions of the course requiring the assistance of outside lecturers should begradually taken over by the full-time--staff.- Expatriate assistance will benecessary for 5-7 years while more Afghans reach graduate status and followthis with 3-4 years' field experience. The present curriculum must be radical-ly changed. The amount of lecture time devoted to theoretical veterinaryscience should be reduced by at least half. Animal husbandry subjects shouldbe taught more thoroughly, especially nutrition and management. Elements ofagriculture must be included, along with lectures in basic farm managementeconomics.

7.17 Practical training should take up between one-third and one-half ofthe course. The handling, feeding and management of all animals should becarried out by the students whenever possible. All disease prevention andcontrol programs at the college farm would be included in the students'practical training. Fodder conservation and storage must be performed bythe students to assist them in understandingr-the principles and practicesinvolved in making quality hay and silage. Performance records should bekept for all animals, and small trials should be initiated to demonstrate theadvantages of treatment for disease prevention and the feeding results ob-tained with various rations.

7.18 During the course a minimum of 6 months must be spent in the fieldin constant contact with village flock owners and nomadic tribal groups.This could be arranged by using the proposed Regional Animal Health Centersas an administrative base and by working with the animal health teams Ln thefield. If suitable arrangements can be made, students might live in certainvillages for a time to assist with drenching and feeding programs and tobecome familiar with the many problems of the flock owner. Written reportsof field work must be submitted.

7.19 The establishment of a Veterinary Science Faculty at the Universityof Kabul is not recommended for the near future. The emphasis in the short-term should be on the relocation and redesigning of the Animal Health and

ANNEX 2Page 18

Production Course which has already been running for 5 years. During thisperiod more students must be encouraged to take Veterinary Science and AnimalHusbandry degrees at overseas universities.

Technical Training

7.20 The training of technicians to carry out the field work involvedin the proposed animal health project is of priority importance. The trainingprogram should include lectures on the basic theory of disease control, forboth infectious and parasitic diseases. Practical demonstrations in innocu-lation and drenching techniques are necessary, not only with a few laboratoryanimals, but using commercial flocks under veterinary supervision. The tech-nique of intradermal vaccination for the control of sheep pox and foot-and-mouth disease should be taught. Modern intradermal syringes (there are nonein Afghanistan) should be purchased immediately.

7.21 The theoretical section of the course could be taught at the tech-nician's school run by MA's Veterinary and Field Services Section in Kabul(at present it has 9 trainees). In future, all practical training should besupervised by the Regional Animal Health Centers. Consideration should begiven to moving the first part of the course from Kabul to a Regional Centerto enable frequent contact to be made with the larger flocks.

7.22 The status and training of these technicians should be such thatthey can show leadership in the villages and command the respect of theflock owners. One of their major tasks will be to teach flock owners how toadminister intramuscular and subcutaneous vaccinations and to drench theirflocks for internal parasite control. Technical staff must be given everyencouragement to work with the herdsmen and their flocks in the field. Toencourage skilled personnel to take up positions in the provincial towns andvillages, adequate housing should be provided, together with a salary levelwell above that for a comparable position in Kabul.

C. Study of Rangeland Utilization and Development

7.23 There is an urgent need for more systematic information about thecarrying capacity of the rangeland and the optimum location of water suppliesfor best utilization of this capacity. There is also a need for reliableinformation about time and rates of grazing in relation to the regenerativecapabilities of the range. A comprehensive range study should be drawn up,incorporating the following points:

(i) Development of rainfed cereals-pasture legumes rotations toeliminate direct competition between livestock and cerealcultivation.

ANNEX 2Page 19

(ii) Control of grazing to allow pasture regeneration (thedramatic reduction in livestock numbers in the last droughthas demonstrated the recuperative powers of the naturalpastures once stocking rates are reduced). The sociologicalimplications of grazing control are important, as flockowners have used the same yearly migration routes and grazingareas for the past 100 years. If, however, the displacedflocks could be directed to better pasture areas with amplewater supplies without disturbing too many groups of people,such measures could find acceptance.

(iii) Development of watering points. Reports indicate that thereare large areas at high altitudes that are completely ungrazedbecause of the lack of water. Similarly, spring and autumnpastures at intermediate altitudes, where flocks are concen-trated during their migrations, are also in need of additionalwatering facilities. A thorough survey of the chief migratorypaths and grazing areas is needed to determine more preciselythe extent and location of watering requirements - the provi-sion of watering points without careful planning could leadto severe over-grazing of certain areas within a short time,especially if the movement of flocks were not controlled.Improved domestic water facilities should be considered atthe same time, and wherever possible the provision of wateringfacilities should be coordinated with other rural developmentprojects.

(iv) Establishment of pasture trials in selected locations.Areas of 200-300 ha should be fenced in order to study therecovery time of pastures with the complete exclusion ofstock. Such trials should be commenced as soon as possible,while livestock numbers are at their present low levels.

(v) Study of the need for winter shelter. The provision ofwinter shelters for sheep on all sections of the range isfrequently claimed to be of high priority, and investigationsneed to be carried out to demonstrate whether shelters willbe effective, what the most suitable type is (permanent orportable), where losses due to cold mainly occur, and what iinter-relationship there is (if any) between winter housingand nutrition.

D. Improved Utilization of Crop By-products

7.24 Cottonseed cake, dried beet pulp and beet molasses are all valua-ble sources of high energy feed readily utilized by ruminant animals. Cot-tonseed hulls are a roughage which is also acceptable in a ruminant diet if

ANNEX 2Page 20

fed in conjunction with other feedstuffs. At present, however, the by-product residues of the cotton and sugar beet industries are seldom used asanimal feeds - cottonseed cake and cottonseed hulls are now used as fuel andmost of the sugar beet pulp and molasses produced at the Baghlan mill isdisposed of in the river. These valuable sources of feed have an importantrole to play in future livestock production as a winter feed supplement toupgrade the present meager winter rations of cereal straw and range hay.The feasibility of utilizing these by-products, however, depends on costs ofproduction, storage, and transportation, and on the additional flock revenuesthat can be obtained.

Cotton and Sugar Beet Industry By-product Production

Product Percent 1975 1980T.D.N. /a Material T.D.N. Material T.D.N.

…'----'000 tons--------------

Cottonseed Cake 65 45 29 70 46Cottonseed Hulls 39 22 9 34 13Sugar Beet Pulp /b 69 5 3 15 10Beet Molasses /b 61 13 8 40 24

Total 49 93

/a Total digestible nutrients./b On the basis of capacity operation of one new sugar factory complex.

7.25. The first priority in terms of nutrition, after draft animals, isthe breeding ewe, on whose nutritional status during the late winter restsnot only her own survival, but also that of her unborn lamb and its produc-tive potential as a meat and wool producer. The last month of pregnancy isthe most critical period, yet in many wintering areas only half the nutritiverequirements are met from natural grazing plus the straw and range hay common-ly provided. Crop by-products could be used to supplement the winter diet,and would have the additional advantage of increasing the digestibility ofthe other roughages. If the by-products of the present cotton and sugar beetindustries could be utilized for this purpose, some 3.3 million ewes couldeach be fed 15 kg of T.D.N. over a period of 30 days; by 1980, crop by-products could be sufficient to feed some 6.2 million ewes. Such a feedingprogram would enable about 7% more of the ewes to survive, and could reducelamb losses by 8%. These would result in a 3% increase in flock inventory;wool and milk production per ewe could rise by 5-7%.

7.26 From Appendix B, page 3, it can be seen that total gross incomefrom a flock of 100, including 53 breeding ewes, would increase by about 20%or Af 7,200 if fed this ration. If a 25% return on an investment in feed

ANNEX 2Page 21

concentrate was acceptable, then producers could afford to pay Af 4,300 perton for such feed. If feed mill preparation, storage and transportationcosts of supplements were Af 2,700 per ton, the above sale price would beprofitable. These figures clearly indicate that a close examination of themerits of this program is warranted. The fact that such a project would com-plement the health program must also be kept in mind, since if a flock weresubjected to both treatments the success of each would be enhanced.

7.27 To ensure utilization of crop by-products, processing mills willhave to be built at each sugar factory. A dry pulp molasses mixture shouldbe manufactured as the main product, and the additional molasses not so usedcould be dried and mixed with other feedstuffs such as cottonseed hulls,barley and straw. Distribution of surplus molasses in drums so that farmerscould mix it with straw and range hay may be possible. Storage facilitiesat distribution centers in regional towns or selected villages should bebuilt, to enable the products to be transported directly from the feed mills.Distribution to the flock owners would take place before winter rain and snowmake many of the feeder roads impassable.

7.28 In addition to utilizing crop by-products, there are opportunitiesfor increasing rainfed barley production by including it in a planned rota-tion (Annex 1). Since barley is harvested in early summer, the transportationand storage facilities used in the by-product program could be utilized forthe collection of barley if surpluses occur.

E. Expansion and Improvement of the Karakul Industry

7.29 Karakul flocks (35% of total sheep numbers) are a vital sectorof the livestock economy. Increasing their production and improving thequality of skins and wool should receive high priority among livestock,program alternatives. To encourage producers to embark on a program of rapidexpansion, short-term credit for purchasing breeding ewes and winter feedsupplies is needed. At the same time, measures are needed to improve thequality and value-added of Karakul products.

7.30 Every year a proportion of the total breeding flock is sold orbartered because the flock owners need the income to meet current expenses.These sheep are normally purchased for slaughter by butchers. The establish-ment of medium-term (3-5 years) credit facilities is needed to finance thepurchase of these ewes by other breeders or their retention by their owners.AgBank has already extended credit to some flock owners for the purchase ofbreeding sheep, on the security of a promissory note. It would seem wisethat, if this type of credit is to be expanded, it be taken out on a stockmortgage over the owner's total flock. The problem of identification couldbe tackled by introducing a system of ear markings, which is used successfullyin other countries.

ANNEX 2Page 22

7.31 Credit facilities are also needed for the purchase of winter feed.This credit should be granted for a period of one year. As the availabilityof suitable feedstuffs for this purpose is strictly limited, it is recommend-ed that the Karakul Institute be commissioned to purchase existing suppliesof cottonseed cake from the mills for distribution to the flock owner as thefirst step in putting this program into action.

7.32 To assist the development of the Karakul industry, the charter ofthe Karakul Institute should be expanded to enable it to play a more activerole in all aspects of Karakul production. The proposed curing house to bebuilt and run by the Institute at Mazar-i-Sharif should be commenced as soonas possible. The Institute should employ technicians to instruct flock ownersin better methods of skin flailing and trials should be instigated to improvecuring methods. The opportunities for opening another sorting house in con-junction with the curing house should be investigated.

7.33 At present, only three of the original 13 Karakul cooperatives arefunctioning. To utilize the potential for development of the cooperativemovement, a concerted effort must be made to place these three cooperatives,which have a total membership of 3,267 and paid up capital of Af 18,227,000,on a sound footing. Their geographical distribution affords a reasonablecoverage of the more densely populated area of Karakul production and theycould be used as a vehicle for the distribution of short-term credit for thepurchase of breeding ewes and winter feed supplies. The mobilization, storageand distribution of winter feed could be organized by the Karakul Instituteusing the cooperatives as the focal points for distribution and credit facili-ties.

7.34 The purchase of skins in the open market by the cooperatives shouldbe encouraged to create stronger competition with export buyers and middle-men who have established their own export firm. This would require consider-able credit and supervision by AgBank and the Karakul Institute working inclose association with the cooperatives. The overall supervision of theexisting cooperatives must be strengthened if these extended credit facilitiesare to be made available. Since the Institute has the confidence of the coop-erative members, it should take up this supervisory role. Expatriate assist-ance in this field could be useful.

7.35 The Institute and the cooperatives could also be used as vehiclesfor implementing the proposed animal health program, especially for vaccinedistribution and sale of drenches and other drugs. The possibilities of theInstitute employing technical animal husbandry and veterinary staff, andtaking over the running of the Karakul farm at Shebergan have been considered,but with the limited numbers of these people likely to become available duringthe next 5-7 years, it would appear wise to delay this part of the program.

APPROXIMATE SHEEP DISTRIBUTION BY BREEDS AND MIGRATION ROUTES

0 50 100 150 mi1es 8 K 'Mz IKI /IC G -

/ K , , ~Shor,f A AZ L.),gyf <

c- o ., A Z K ,

H E R A T \ 1 G~ " .'-0 G4b

\ F A R A H tw ° h *, AForoh 8G -,-

B G-S * *c

_ ~~Gh , 8,

- - - G'r.siik~Ho - I

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~/ t * Kofldohor t s.h >

) <, '^ * | o { ~~~~~~~~K KARAXUL

/ A ,V, , Gh )T TURKI

s + B z B { B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~BA LUCHI

era ! ^H MAZ AC

H HERA TI

C) Ho ~ ~ ~ H HZRAI

0 _ GG GODIC

MIGRATION ROUT ES

Source: Planning Study of the Agriculture Sector of Afghanistan, Robert Nathan Ass., 1971.

i IVENTORY A\Nl) I RZ(0J CTION 9STIMATES

TiPICAL AFGi[A}T! FLOCK OF 100 SHEEP

Beginning- 1 ClosingType Inventoryj. Live Births, Milk Production _Sles Deaths Shearing 'lInventory

V ', ! l Kg! Unii, Price/ Total No. UnitNo. ! No. No.of'hd/ No. oiTo tal P7iue No. hd (Af) No. Kg/!Total Price/ No.

ewes day days Kg. A,) (Af) |shorn hd. Kg. (Af)

Mature Ewes 40 3 950 285( 40

Maiden Ewes 13 13

Total Ewes I Mated 53 38 .3 45 L_ 3 5 4 1 7 0 50 5

Lamb Crop 38 { - 6

Ewe Lamnbs I-_ _ _ _ _ _ _

'6- months 16 3 16 1 0.4 6.4 6

|Ram Lambs6-8 months 16 3 16 .-5 8.0 16

lEaes ' ~~~~ t 0 -- - -- " - _______|____

M al,7es 13 150 16 months 13 13 150019 13 1 .5 19.5 13

I ml l'>1 I [III 1' 1

; JrPs , 2 2 2.0 4.01 2

:TOTAL 100 38 513 562 16 22350 22 95 109.9 5495 100

Sourpe: Mission Estimates.

INV&NTORY AND PRODUCTILON ESTIM4ATES

SHEEP FLOCK WITH FULL DISEASE--CONTROL

Beginning| fl I ClosingType Inventory ive Births Milk Production Sales Deaths Shearing Inventory

l Kg/| Unit *Price/'TotalJ No. UnitNo. No. No.of hd/ No.of TotalJ Price No. hd (Af) aNo. Kg/ Total Price/, No.

ewes day days Kg. (Af) (Af) shorfl hd. Kg. (Af)

Mature Ewes 38 9 950 853 38

Maiden Ewes 15 15

Total Ewes 8 Mated 53 4 .3 1.45 619 5 j6 48 11 76 53

Lamb Crop 43 5

Ewe Lamsb6-8 months 19 22 17 19

6-8 months 19 2 17 0.610.2 50 19

18 months 17 l | | 11 7 | 150085500 l | 1 7 1 .6 27.2 50 2.17' 8ires X 2 t t 51 :' 2.2' 4.41 50 1 2 : Z~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 22 .4 5

TOTA 1: 10 |619 3095 28 3565 15 _O_ | 1271 6355 110

Source: Miwssion Estimates.

INVENTORY AND PRODUCTION ESTIMATES

SHEEP FIWCK WITH BY-PRODUCT SUPPL{EPMJT FEEDING

BeginningI . ClosingType Tnventgril Live Births Milk Production i Siles Deathsj Shearing | Inventory

Kg/ Unit i Price/ Total. No. UnitNo. No. No.of hd/ No.of Total Price No. hd (Af)1 No. Kg/ Total Price/; No.

ewes day days Kg. (Af) (Af) shorn hd. Kg. (Af)

Mature Ewes 39 8 95 39

Maiden Ewes 14 14

Total EwesMated 53 38 5 544 5 6 5 1.6 80. 50 53

Lamb Crop 38 4

Ewe Lambs6-8 months 17 3 170.5 8.' 50 17

Ram Lambs6-8 months 17 3 17 0.6 10.2 50 1 7

Males16 months 14 I1 14 15iO2i 14 1.6 22. 50 14

ftSren 2 I '. 212.2 4. 50 2_

TOTAL 103 38 544 2720 22 286 16 o100' 25.5 6275 103

Source: Mission Estimates.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 3

AGRICULTURAL WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page No.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...... ..................... i - il

I. PHYSICAL RESOURCES ........................................ 1

II. PROGRESS AND CONSTRAINTS IN IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT .... .... 2

A. Background ....... .................. 2B. Instlftutional Structure .............................. 3C. Progress in Water Resource Development ............... 4D. Development Constraints .............................. 7

III. INVESTMENT ALTERNATIVES AND PRIORITIES .................... 8

A. On-Going Projects ................................... 8B. New Projects ......................................... 10C. Small-Scale Irrigation Projects ......... .. ........... 13D. Groundwater Development .............................. 14

IV. POLICY AND.INSTITUTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS ..................... 14

ANNEX 3Page i

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 3

AGRICULTURAL WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

i. Since water is a key factor limiting agricultural expansion, con-tinued emphasis on irrigation is essential. Rivers and streams are the mostimportant source of water for irrigation, but the groundwater potential isalso significant. About 3.3 million ha are estimated to be irrigable fromexisting facilities, many quite primitive. At the present stage of develop-ment this area cannot all be irrigated each year. Much of the irrigated landreceives only supplementary irrigation, and cannot grow summercrops.

ii. Historically, irrigation in Afghanistan has involved open intakesand weirs of stone, wood or brush to divert river flows to main canals. Oftenthese are destroyed by floods, which enter the canals, overflow the lands andsometimes destroy the crops. With canal supplies irregular over the year,farmers near the ends of canals often receive no water or insufficient water.

iii. During the past three decades, modern technology has come into usein the construction of storage dams, water diversion and distribution systems,drainage and land levelling. There has been limited tapping of groundwaterby motor pumps installed in tubewells or shallow dug wells to supplement theancient system of underground tunnel or karezes. Irrigated agriculture, how-ever, is still heavily dependent on primitive systems built by landownerswithout benefit of professional engineering and mechanical equipment.

iv. Effective development and irrigation has been constrained by inade-quate stream flow control and seasonal shortages, siltation of storage reser-voirs, construction of canals too far ahead of related distributory systems anddrainage, and the lack of adequate operation and maintenance. The lack ofadequate definition or record of water rights leads to imbalance in the useof water. The division, until recently, of responsibility between severalministries for irrigation and hydroelectric power has hampered project co-ordination and slowed development.

v. In future irrigation development, first priority should be given tocompletion of unfinished projects, including drainage and land development.The four on-going large-scale irrigation projects - Nangahar, Parwan, Sardeh

ANNEX 3Page ii

and Helmand-Arghandab - should be carried through to early completion.Priority should be given to the completion of drainage and land levellingneeded to realize the benefits of completed reservoirs.

vi. The Government should undertake studies for new projects of largeand medium size as on-going projects are completed. There are several proj-ects on which considerable preinvestment work has been done, and some on whichpreliminary construction has started. Greater attention than in the pastshould be given to the economic and social aspects in project selection anddesign.

vii. The improvement of small-scale irrigation facilities is importantbecause of the high proportion of irrigated agriculture that is dependentupon them. This should not be considered as an alternative to medium andlarge projects, however. Small-scale systems frequently suffer from flood-ing in the spring and water shortages in the summer. This results from lackof control of river flow which some of the large projects are designed toprovide. Past efforts in small-scale irrigation development have been dis-appointing, largely because of management problems. A comprehensive approachto river basin water resource development should incorporate and coordinateboth large and small-scale projects.

viii. The need for groundwater studies to serve as a guide for the loca-tion and rate of exploitation of water is partially being met by the presentprogram. It is proposed, however, that a more comprehensive program of in-vestigations be undertaken. To prepare such a program, a survey is recom-mended of available data on geology, hydrology, hydrogeology, meteorology,irrigation, soils and present agricultural practices, existing infrastructureand proposed development plans.

ix. In the interest of improved utilization of the limited availablewater resources, measures are needed to formulate and adopt a national watercode or law reforming traditional water use rights, and to increase theresponsibility of project farmers for financing and implementing operationand maintenance activities on irrigation projects.

ANNEX 3Page 1

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 3

AGRICULTURAL WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

I. PHYSICAL RESOURCES

1.01 Annual rainfall varies from close to nil (10 mm) in the lowerHelmand Valley at Chakansur to well over 1,000 mm in the Hindu Kush mountains.At higher elevations most of the precipitation is in the form of snow, andsnowpacks serve as natural reservoirs. The rivers, fed largely by meltingsnow, have generally only a low annual flow. Only the Kabul River and itstributaries carry water which reaches the sea (via the Indus River). TheKabul has a mean annual flow of 23,100 million m3 near the Pakistan border.The Helmand and Arghandab Rivers have mean annual flows of 6,940 and 1,870million m3, respectively, at their confluence. The 3 main Afghan tributariesof the Amu Darya, Panj, Kokcha and Kunduz Rivers, have mean annual flows of4,230, 5,480 and 2,210 million m3 , respectively. The Farah Rud and the HariRud, with flows of 1,930 and 1,820 million m3, respectively, are probably thenext most important, although the Balkh River, with a flow of 1,840 million m3may have a comparable potential for irrigation. The Kabul River and itstributaries drain only 14% of the total area, but carry about one-third of thewater because of higher precipitation in the drainage area. Conversely, therivers that flow into Iran drain a major part of the country in which precipita-tion is low.

1.02 Groundwater potential is not known but is believed to be significant.In 1966, UNDP initiated a groundwater investigation to demonstrate modernmethods for exploring and assessing resources in representative areas. Thestudy focused on the Katawaz and Kabul-Charikar areas. In the Katawaz area,the study indicated that the present level of groundwater utilization is al-ready so high that additional large-scale development should be regarded withcaution. Development in stages on a small scale with adequate control wasconsidered advisable, to be followed by an evaluation after a few years ofoperation. In the Charikar area, some 70 km north of Kabul, there are threesub-basins of which the main Parwan sub-basin, already watered by wells,probably holds the greatest untapped source of groundwater in the area. Somegroundwater studies have been made in other areas, along the Amu River to thenorth where salinity is a problem and in the south, upstream of Arghandabreservoir. In general, however, there is insufficient information to determinethe size or location of Afghanistan's groundwater potential.

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II. PROGRESS AND CONSTRAINTS IN IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT

A. Background

2.01 Historically, irrigation development has been carried out by theprivate sector. A group of landowners would band together to install theprimitive and temporary diversion structures that are still widely used.The simplest irrigation involves open intakes and weirs of stone, wood, orbrush to divert water into main canals. Often these are destroyed as thefloods rise, enter the canals, overflow the land and occasionally destroycrops. Canal water supplies are irregular over the year and lands commandedhave an uneven supply, so that those near the ends of the canals often receiveinsufficient water.

2.02 There is no legislation governing water users' associations. How-ever, many informal organizations are in existence, operating under tradi-tional rules for selecting and rewarding a water master (mirab). The miraborganizes maintenance and repairs and supervises water distribution. To ac-complish neressary maintenance, the mirab assesses labor proportional to theamount of land owned. Most irrigated agriculture still depends on this tradi-tional system of supplying water, despite its shortcomings.

2.03 Substantial public development of irrigation first came to the forearound 1953, when the Government chartered the Helmand Valley Authority asa semi-autonomous organization then under the Minister of Finance. Its majorprograms included land development, irrigation, agriculture, education, publichealth, industry and power. In 1966, the name of the organization was changedto Helmand-Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA), operating under the Minister ofPlanning, with regional headquarters in Lashkargah, capital of Helmand Prov-ince. With the construction of Boghra diversion dam and canal and laterKajakai dam, an era of large-scale public water resource development wasushered in.

2.04 The Helmand-Arghandab project was followed by several other largemultipurpose public projects. Work on the Nangahar project on the KabulRiver near Jalalabad began just over 10 years ago. The Darunta dam just aboveJalalabad supplies electricity and irrigation to about 30,000 ha. During themain construction period, a regional development authority had responsibility,but the project was subsequently turned over to MAI for agricultural develop-ment. A special feature of this project is the large Government farms whichwill occupy about half the total area, with the balance being allotted toindividuals.

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2.05 The Sardeh project on the Ghazni River has been a long time underconstruction. The Government undertook to construct the dam without externalassistance; but later USSR assistance was arranged to hasten completion. TheParwan project was started later and has been nearly completed with assistancefrom the People's Republic of China. It diverts water from the Panjshir Riverto irrigate the northern portion of the Kohdaman Valley north of Kabul. Thereis a small generating facility on a canal drop near Charikar. There havealso been a number of smaller Government projects.

B. Institutional Structure

2.06 Responsibility for the development of irrigation has been dividedand has been changed frequently. The largest projects, HAVA and Nangahar,were under regional authorities during their main construction phases. Sub-sequently they became the responsibility of MAI which already had an Irriga-tion and Water Resources Development Authority with engineering capability forproject preparation and smaller project construction. Other ministries alsohad water use responsibilities, as follows:

Ministry Agency within Ministry Responsibility

Mines and Industries Department of Mines and Groundwater studyGeology and exploitation,

hydroelectric power.

Public Works Electricity Authority Urban water supply

Public Health Department of Environmental Rural water supplyHealth

Prime Ministry Rural Development Department Small irrigationand water supplyworks.

2.07 This arrangement presented certain problems of coordination. Therehas been a lack of coordination between irrigation and hydroelectric powerplanning as hydroelectric power generation was the responsibility of theMinistry of Mines and Industries (MMI), while most irrigation activities cameunder MAI.

2.08 In recognition of the need for improved coordination in the planning,construction and operation of multi-purpose water resource programs, the Govern-ment created in 1975 a Water and Power Authority (WAPA) to be responsible forall aspects of water resource development. 1/ The relevant departments of otherministries have been transferred, and MAI has been re-named the Ministry ofAgriculture (MA). The president of WAPA has ministerial rank. Although it istoo soon to evaluate the impact of this institutional reorganization, the

1/ This development is largely consistant with the sector mission's pre-liminary recommendation made to the government in October 1974.

ANNEX 3Page 4

establishment of WAPA should be a major step towards improving the coordinationand effectiveness of the Government's water resource development programs.

C. Progress in Water Resource Development

2.09 Only about 13% of the total area, or some 8 million ha, of Afghan-istan's land area is arable, of which about 3.3 million ha is irrigable withexisting facilities. Of this 3.3 million ha, however, only about 2.4 millionha are cultivated each year, and much of this receives an inadequate watersupply. Irrigation water is supplied by the following means (1971 estimate):

Canals 2,210,000 haSprings 190,000 haKarezes 170,000 haWells 16,000 ha

Total 2,586,000 ha

Surface Water Use

2.10 Canals are the major means of irrigation water supply. The areasserved by canals include those lands irrigated from controlled sources, i.e.from stored water supplies, and those irrigated with uncontrolled surfacewater by river diversion. Recently, emphasis has been given to the developmentof storage for water for agricultural use and in some cases for other purposes.The largest reservoir, Kajakai on the Helmand River, was completed in 1953.The capacity of this and other major reservoirs is as follows:

Reservoir River Capacity (million m3)

Kajakai /I Helmand 1,85-u

Arghandab Arghandab 479

Sardeh Ghazni 160

/1 Installation of spillway gates on the Kajakai dam, currently in progress,will increase the capacity of the reservoir by 60%.

In addition, there are 9 smaller reservoirs, the largest with capacity of 21million m3. The major on-going storage projects are described in the followingparagraphs.

ANNEX 3Page 5

2.11 Helmand-Arghandab Project. Development of the Helmand Valley beganover 30 years ago with rehabilitation of the old Deh Adam Khan canal aboveGirishk by Japanese engineers hired by the Government. After World War II,the project was expanded with American assistance to become a comprehensiveregional project. The original canal, renamed Boghra, was lengthened tomake irrigation water accessible to desert bench lands, now known as Nad-i-Ali and Marja. Kajakai reservoir on the Helmand River, costing overUS$13 million, and Arghandab reservoir on the Arghandab River, costing morethan US$7 million, were constructed; the former was for power, flood controland irrigation, and the latter mainly for irrigation. Completion of theHelmand/Arghandab irrigation system, development of land now lacking farmlaterals and drainage canals, and preparation of these areas for more efficientcultivation, remain to be accomplished.

2.12 Progress to the end of 1974 was as follows:

Helmand River Arghandab Riverha---------------

Total irrigation potential 242,800 89,000

Irrigation potential withpresent water flow control 161,900 68,000

Area being irrigated 121,400 52,600

Area provided with adequatedrainage by HAVA 17,800 8,700

2.13 Nangahar Project. This project, on the lower Kabul River nearJalalabad, is expected to be completed by 1977 except for about 3,000 ha withserious development problems involving poor soils and high costs. Almost30,000 ha will benefit, of which only 6,600 ha were previously irrigated.Government farms are being developed and the settlement of families on otherland is going forward.

2.14 Sardeh Project. This project, which is USSR assisted, is locatedin the vicinity of Ghazni and was expected to be completed in 1975. It willirrigate about 14,000 ha of new land and improve irrigation on 1,080 ha.

2.15 Parwan Project. This project is located just north of Kabul. Itinvolves the irrigation of 9,500 ha of new land and irrigation improvement on15,300 ha, and is expected to be completed in 1977 with the assistance of thePeople's,Republic of China. The remaining work is mostly agricultural devel-opment. The project includes a small power facility.

ANNEX 3Page 6

2.16 Other Projects. Although about 60% of irrigation expenditure bud-geted for 1975/76 is allocated to these four projects, several other projectswere under construction. These include water distribution system for theFaizabad project to irrigate 1,400 ha of new land which is to be completed in1975, as is the Chardeh-i-Ghorband project of similar size. Work on fourcanals taking water from the Panj and Amu Rivers is in progress as well asconstruction of headworks on the Archi dam. Canal construction on the KokchaRiver project, started in 1973, continues as does the Lashkari canal in thelower Helmand Valley. Irrigation work was also in progress on the Paktia andKunar regional projects.

2.17 In addition to these projects, hydrological studies are continuingwith UNDP assistance, and groundwater surveys are in progress in 4 areas. Thereare technical studies relating to a possible Khawja Ali dam on the HelmandRiver, investigations of Balkh Province irrigation possibilities, dam siteinvestigations in the Hari Rud Valley, and other similar preinvestment work.

Groundwater Use

2.18 Groundwater has traditionally been utilized through springs andthrough the "kareze" system of irrigation. Recently a limited number oftubewells has been introduced. Kareze irrigation is used in mountain foothilland high plateaux areas. It consists of a well shaft and an undergroundtunnel carrying water from the shaft to the area to be irrigated. Sometunnels may be as long as 20 km. The kareze system is found in nearly halfthe provinces, especially on the great alluvial fans that flank the mountainranges. Discharges from a group of 20 karezes in the upper Tarnak Valley weremeasured, showing flows varying from 1 1/sec up to 320 1/sec. Eighty percentof them yielded less than 50 1/sec.

2.19 All kareze irrigation is inefficient in its use of water as waterflows the year round, thus flowing to waste for some 5 months of the year out-side of the growing season. On the other hand the cost of replacing karezeswith more efficient wells is prohibitive: investigations in the Tarnak Valleyindicated that more than 1,000 wells costing US$3 million would have beenrequired to replace the traditional kareze system. Nevertheless future ground-water development should utilize wells, although new wells which jeopardizethe capacity of existing karezes should be avoided.

2.20 Springs provide important sources of water for irrigation in Urozgan,Ghor and Ghazni provinces. Unless their flows are controlled, however, theytoo can be wasteful of groundwater. Tubewells provide water for only 0.5% ofthe irrigated area. They are used mainly in the Ghazni area and to a lesserextent in Herat Province. Their limited use is due to high initial investment,high cost of power for pumping, and lack of trained personnel to operate them.In some parts of the country, especially in the north, groundwater is toobrackish for crops. Shallow or dug wells are more common, and are increasingin number.

ANNEX 3Page 7

D. Development Constraints

2.21 Despite the progress made in water resource development in recentyears, the following problems remain:-.

(i) Erosion of river beds, leaving intakes above water level.

(ii) Destruction of diversion and canal intakes by floods.

(iii) Siltation of reservoirs.

(iv) Failure of construction of distribution and drainage systemsto keep pace with canal supplies.

(v) Lack of adequate operation and maintenance.

(vi) Lack of water rights legislation.

(vii) Difficulties in determining land ownership owing to the absenceof cadastral surveys or up-to-date land registration.

2.22 Heavy silt loads are conveyed in almost all the streams. Withsome 75% of the country sparsely covered by vegetation, with woodland destruc-tion caused by the production of charcoal, firewood and lumber, and withfrequent overgrazing, soil erosion is chronic. Long-term programs are neededto ascertain critical silt-contributing areas and to identify useful controlmeasures such as regulated grazing and afforestation.

2.23 Delays in the construction of distribution and drainage systems leadat best to delay in realization of project benefits and at worst to water-logging and even exodus of new settlers. This was the unfortunate experiencein the Helmand Valley reclamation areas with the failure to install:drainageoutlets in timely fashion; delays of this nature are still experienced in manyprojects.

2.24 Inadequate maintenance of existing reservoirs, canals and drainsimpairs their efficient use, with steady diminution of the irrigated area.There has been some recognition of this problem: for example, the AnnualDevelopment Plan for 1974/75 for the Helmand Valley identifies maintenance ofthe irrigation system as a specific well-defined objective. Because of theshortages of skilled manpower throughout the country, however, effectivemaintenance is likely to remain a problem for the foreseeable future.

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2.25 The lack of legally defined water rights and the absence of waterrecords lead to inefficient water use and social inequity. While in principlepriority in beneficial use of water establishes rights, in practice the mirabsystem (para 2.02) falls short of protecting downstream users from the easierdiversion access of upstream users. This results in a considerable nationalwaste of scarce water, and leads to reduced agricultural output and wastedinvestment. Losses are acute in Balkh, Jawzjan and Fariab Provinces. Thereis an urgent need for an effective system to protect downstream water users'rights. An elaborate Preliminary Draft Water Code was drawn up in 1974 withthe assistance of UNDP. With some 133 articles, the code will require simpli-fication, including deletion of procedural matters concerning permits to bedealt with separately by parallel regulation. Whatever the vehicle, there isan urgent need for an effective water code, reflecting full consideration ofwater supply conditions.

2.26 The nebulous character of land ownership records is a complicatingfactor. For some time, cadastral surveys have been in progress to determineproperty boundaries as well as to prepare a basis for assessing land taxes.The aim is ultimately to survey some 6 million ha of agricultural land in allprovinces of the country. By the end of 1975, perhaps 400,000 ha will havebeen covered, leaving most of the task still to be accomplished. Even raland that has been surveyed, the land register has not been updated.

III. INVESTMENT ALTERNATIVES AND PRIORITIES

A. On-Going Projects

Projects Nearing Completion

3.01 Generally, projects in advanced stages of construction should becompleted expeditiously. This includes drainage, land levelling and settle-ment, as well as water distribution. Investments of this kind are necessaryto realize the maximum return on past expenditures and will generally resultin early increases in production. For some projects, however, the scope ofwork to be included requires clarification, and further analysis is needed ofrelated investments in some instances.

3.02 The imbalance between area under water command and area with theother components necessary for intensive farming in the original Helmand-Arghandab project area has been indicated in para 2.12. In correcting thisimbalance, account should be taken of the fact that the Helmand Valley hasmore abundant water supplies than the Arghandab River Valley. Shortages haveoccurred in the Arghandab area. Work is continuing in the Shamalan, Darweshan,Babaji and Nahr-i-Seraj areas, and further work is needed in the Nad-i-Aliand Marja areas. A time schedule and cost estimates for completion of allessential work should be prepared.

ANNEX 3Page 9

3.03 The completion of the basic facilities for irrigation of the Nangarhar,Parwan and Sardeh project areas is scheduled as follows: Nangahar in 1977 ata cost of Af 352 million in 1976 and Af 372 million in 1977; Parwan in 1977 ata cost of Af 160 million in 1976 and Af 145 million in 1977; and Sardeh in 1975.Work on the Panj and Amu canals should continue as planned and be completed in1976. Other canal construction in the Kokcha River area and on the Lashkaricanal in the lower Helmand Valley should also go forward. The irrigationwork for the Paktia and Kunar region projects is also expected to continue.

Projects Recently Started

3.04 Khanabad Irrigation Project. The Khanabad basin below Pul-i-Chugais a fertile area where irrigation has been practiced for many generations.Some 39,000 ha are presently irrigated. As in many other traditional systemsin Afghanistan, however, the loose stone diversion structure is breachedregularly by floods. Canals are ungated and uncontrolled, leading to inef-ficient use of scarce water. The Government requested IDA assistance inmodernizing the system to provide better control and use of water. The proj-ect was designed to improve 30,000 ha in the presently irrigated area. Theproposed improvements -are a new permanent diversion structure on the KhanabadRiver, river training works, 18 km of new canal, improvement of 12 km old canal,construction of drainage facilities, and a feasibility study for possible fur-ther development.

3.05 Owing to modification of the project and bidding difficulties, theproject has been delayed and the cost of the project has more than doubled.The project has been reappraised, and, subject to satisfactory results fromreopened bids, the project should be implemented as rapidly as possible.Efforts should be made to overcome delays caused by staffing problems andinadequate support services.

3.06 Gawargan and Chardara Projects. Both the Gawargan and Chardaraprojects involve existing developments with conventional diversions subjectto periodic washouts during floods. There is a net irrigable area of 6,360ha at Gawargan and 16,060 ha at Chardara, a total of 22,420 ha. The projects,which are financially supported by the Asian Development Bank, contemplatethorough improvement in the water supply. -Each project will have a permanentintake structure which will replace the existing temporary ones; the maincanals will be rehabilitated and enlarged and provided with proper offtakeand control structures. In addition, drainage and roads will be improved.The projects, which will result in improved irrigation on 22,420 ha and newirrigation on 2,800 ha, should take 3-4 years for construction to be completed.

3.07 - Kokcha Project. Some work on this project was started in 1973, and2 canals of 7 km each have been dug. The project has a potential for irri-gating about 13,000 ha of new land in addition to improving water supplies on

ANNEX 3Page 10

land already inadequately irrigated. This would involve a diversion dam withpower potential. A main canal on the right bank would serve a large new areawhich could be increased by pumping from this canal. A left bank canal wouldimprove supplies for the presently irrigated area. In order to acceleratethe work, a comprehensive plan should be prepared and a feasibility analysiscompleted. The area has good potential for cotton and other cash crops aswell as grain.

3.08 Lashkari Canal. Work on this canal was scheduled to begin in 1975.The canal, which will be 45 km long with a potential for irrigating 92,000 ha,is a part of the proposed development of the lower Helmand Valley (Chakansurarea).

B. New Projects

3.09 In most cases, the level of investment already made in on-goingirrigation projects is sufficient to justify their completion. Emphasis needsto be given to the rapid construction of outstanding works critical to therealization of overall project benefits. In the case of new projects, however,very strict review of their economic and financial benefits is essential beforefunds are committed. Particular emphasis should be given to the timing andphasing of project works, to ensure that the long delays in construction andin realization of project benefits that have occurred in past projects are notrepeated. New projects should be carefully planned and coordinated at a riverbasin level, and efforts should be made to develop smaller projects with ashorter payback period in parallel with major storage or control works. Muchgreater attention than in the past should be paid to the rapid realization ofproject benefits. Some of the more important potential irrigation projectsare discussed in the following paragraphs.

3.10 Hari Rud Storage. The Hari Rud basin has good long-term potentialfor agricultural development, but cultivation and livestock production atpresent are constrained by the limited supply of water available from the HariRud by traditional diversion works. Several studies of the basin, startingwith a UN Special Fund study in 1969, have demonstrated the desirability ofconstruction of a storage dam to improve utilization of flood waters and expandirrigation above the present area of 33,000 ha. With improved water supplies,there is considerable scope for increased production of wheat, cotton, sugarbeet, ,.uits and livestock. Development of the basin must be carefullyplanned, however, to ensure that maximum agricultural benefits are obtainedand that delays are kept to a minimum.

3.11 The UNDP study found a need for effective storage of some 300 mil-lion m3, which could be provided at either of two sites upstream in the HariRud, the Assarassum site, or the Selma site. Subsequently, an Indian construc-tion team studied the Selma site and recommended a stone masonry gravity dam

ANNEX 3Page 11

to be constructed with labor-intensive methods. Manpower requirements havebeen estimated to peak at 600 masons and packers; 300 quarryman; 500 carpen-ters, drivers, and other skilled workers; and 3,000 unskilled workers. Thedam would be sited in an isolated, sparsely populated area, and these numbersmight well be difficult to recruit, house and feed, and to manage in theconstruction process. In addition, climatic conditions would limit theconstruction season to 7-8 months. Besides the labor problems, constructionwith labor-intensive methods would require more than the estimated 5 yelars,so that it might take twice as long to build the dam by masonry as by the useof modern equipment for building a concrete gravity dam. Project benefitswould be delayed accordingly.

3.12 The agricuiltural potential of Herat Province is such that the Govern-ment's decision to construct a masonry darm with labor-intensive methods shouldbe urgently reviewed, together with related project issues. This shouldinclude:

(i) Comparison of mechanized and labor-intensive constructionmethods for the Selma site, together with analysis of theeconomic impact of delaying the useful flow of benefits fromthe dam by as much as 5 years.

(ii) Detailed geologic survey to confirm the suitability of thedam site.

(iii) A comprehensive study of alternative diversion and distributionsystems, identification of land for which irrigation is to beimproved, and hydroelectric power generating facilities.

(iv) Groundwater analysis to show the impact of the overall Hari Rudscheme on groundwater conditions near Herat and also below ininternational waters (boreholes may help relieve any drainageproblem which threatens).

(v) Investigation of the possibility of parallel development ofdown-stream works to bring some rapid improvements in water supply.

3.13 Qalagai Dam. A proposed Qalagai dam would be located on the KunduzRiver in Baghlan Province, about 11 km upstream from the city of Pul-i-Khumri.Based upon 1966 studies by SOGREAH 1/ and a more recent report by the Irriga-tion and Water Resources Development Authority 2/ assisted by UNDP Civil

1/ SOGREAH. Kunduz Khanabad Irrigation Study, Final Report, December, 1966.

2/ Planning Section, Irrigation and Water Resources Development Authority,Qalagai Dam and Reservoir Project, Planning Report, September 1974.

ANNEX 3Page 12

Engineer Planning, a dam and reservoir at that site would provide 800 millionm3 of usable storage for irrigation, flood control and hydroelectric power.Besides a power generating installation of 60,000 kw at the dam, downstreampower generated at existing facilities at Pul-i-Khumri power stations 1 and2 would be enhanced. This dam could improve irrigation on 61,000 ha andallow 24,000 ha of new land to be irrigated.

3.14 Further studies at feasibility level are needed, however, before adecision can be made about undertaking construction. Such studies should bepursued without delay. Some of the studies could be done by the Governmentat a cost of about Af 13 million. The rest should be contracted and wouldrequire between 1 and 2 years to complete. Assuming confirmation of anearthfill dam by subsequent studies, the dam might take perhaps 4 years toconstruct, once financing is assured.

3.15 Cheshma-i-Shafa Project. This project, in Balkh Province, is to bestudied with the help of a UNDP technical assistance grant. The project wouldinclude a storage dam with reservoir capacity of 400 million m3 and 10,000 KWelectricity potential. There is the possibility of irrigating about 16,000 haof new land. This study should be expedited.

3.16 Farah Rud Irrigation and Flood Control Project. This project hasbeen the subject of a general survey and a more detailed feasibility study isnow in order. This is potentially a large project with a storage dam to createa reservoir of 570 million m3 capacity with power potential of 30,000 to 35,000KW and a water supply for about 60,000 ha.

3.17 Panjshir Storage Dam. The proposed project would serve the dualpurposes of generating power for the Kabul area and improving the irrigationwater supplies of the Parwan and Kapisa project areas. This could well be thesubject of a feasibility study. The need for coordination with all otherplans for power and irrigation in the Kabul River basin is stressed.

3.18 Further Helmand Valley Development. Until recently, water resourcedevelopment in the region of the Helmand River and its tributaries has beenlargely confined to the area most directly served by the Kajakai and Arghandabdams. The Lashkari canal in the lower Helmand Valley signals the beginning ofan extension of development activity to that area. The Kajakai dam has floodcontrol as one of its major objectives and its value for this purpose will begreatly increased by the installation of spillway gates.

3.19 Increased storage will benefit any development activities that maybe undertaken further downstream. It may also create the possibility of di-version of water to the lower Arghandab area. There are also possibilitiesfor water storage for irrigation and flood control on some of the largertributaries of the Helmand and Arghandab Rivers, such as the Musakala andTarnak. While the first priority is completion of existing distribution

ANNEX 3Page 13

systems, associated drainage and land development, investigations should goforward on a more comprehensive basis for irrigation, power and flood controlfor the entire basin. These should be completed before major new constructionis started. Works of this nature would be consistent with the Afghanistan-Iran Protocol concerning the use of Helmand waters.

3.20 The Garmsar Area. This area, on the Helmand River below Darweshan,offers possibilities for irrigation from a diversion dam, which would benefitabout 17,000 ha. This would involve a distribution network and drainage. Afeasibility study is needed.

3.21 The Lower Helmand (Chakansur) Area. Preliminary consideration hasbeen given to a large storage dam on the Helmand River and to a spillway fromthe river to the Gaude-Zereh depression for flood release, as well as to thediversion of water for irrigation along with suitable distribution networksand drainage. The Lashkari Canal is already under construction.

C. Small-Scale Irrigation Projects

3.22 A decade ago Afghanistan looked mainly to large construction proj-ects for expansion of its irrigated area. The bulk of agricultural develop-ment funds from both domestic and external sources was going into such proj-ects as Helmand Valley and Nangarhar. As it became evident that largeprojects were slow to yield increases in production and income, more attentionand funding was given to small projects supposedly offering higher and quickerreturns. Higher priority has been advocated for small surface water andother irrigation improvements, groundwater and pump development, and quickeryielding agricultural and livestock projects. While no major shift in fundshas occurred, further experience with different approaches to small-scaleirrigation improvement has been gained. The results, however, have been lessfavorable than was anticipated.

3.23. River flows have high seasonal variability. Without storage toregulate the flow, the problem of damaging spring floods followed by short-ages later in the growing season is not entirely solved by better intakes,canals and distribution systems, although such projects should result in lessflood damage to intakes, some increase in water supplies and more efficientuse of the water diverted.

3.24 It is essential, therefore, that small projects diverting wat"erfrom important rivers be integral parts of comprehensive plans for the riverbasin. Their water supplies may be augmented by upstream storage, and Ltheymust share the available water with other users up and down the river. Hence,an isolated approach to small project design is increasingly less approlpriatewith the growth in demand for water for irrigation and other uses. It shouldbe more a matter of integrating various sizes and types of projects than ofconsidering them as alternatives.

ANNEX 3Page 14

3.25 Other major difficulties have emerged from recent programs topromote small-scale irrigation works. First, even small works require a sub-stantial technical input in design and supervision of construction and neitherMAI nor WAPA has had sufficient technical staff to mount an effective programof small-scale projects. Second, the engineering approach towards designingsmall-scale works have been somewhat conventional and inflexible. As a result,high quality, and consequently high cost, works have been constructed when lesssophisticated techniques and lower standards could have given satisfactoryperformance at a reduced cost. Third, attempts to promote private projectsthrough AgBank have failed because of the marginal financial return on suchworks (in part owing to their high cost), because of difficulty in organizinga large number of farmers, and because of the inequity of traditional waterrights.

D. Groundwater Development

3.26 Groundwater investigations and related activities are being carriedout in 4 areas--Logar Valley, Dasht-i-Omaki area of Zabul Province, ShorabuckDistrict of Kandahar Province, and the Dasht-i-Bakwa area. There is a needto continue and expand this work in order to indicate additional areas suitablefor well drilling and digging and to guard against investing in wells thatmight overtax groundwater supplies in particular areas. It is recommendedthat a comprehensive plan be prepared for investigations on a nationwide basis,with an order of priorities which would recognize potentials for groundwaterdevelopment.

3.27 A brief report published in 1974 1/ presents a proposal for a 4-monthstudy which would collect and analyze data on geology, hydrology, meteorology,irrigation, soils, present agricultural practice, existing infrastructure,and proposed development plans as a basis for selected areas and establishingpriorities in a comprehensive, multi-year program of investigations. Thisproposed study, or a comparable alternative, should be carried out as soonas possible.

IV. POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS

4.01 The further development of agricultural potential in Afghanistandepends not only on expeditious construction of irrigation facilities and on

1/ Engineering and Resource Consultants (ERCON). Groundwater Studies -Afghanistan: Proposal for Selection of Suitable Areas for ComprehensiveInvestigation, October, 1974.

ANNEX 3Page 15

a smooth flow of studies of individual project feasibility, but also on cer-tain policy and organizational changes. The recent establishment of the Waterand Power Authority should lead to a major improvement in the coordinatedplanning and implementation of water resources in the future. There remain,however, three areas of water development policy where major improvementsare needed:

(i) There is need of a consistent general policy on irrigationand power development.

(ii) A national water code should be formulated and adopted.

(iii)- Maintenance of irrigation facilities and financing ofoperating and maintenance costs must be improved.

4.02 Selection and preparation of water development projects should bebased on detailed, careful economic and social analysis of the major alter-natives - to establish priorities simply on project size or pay-back periodis insufficient. Substantial improvement of primitive irrigation systems isneeded, but this should be done within a planning framework which recognizesthe need for seasonal control of water flow in the entire river system toovercome the problem of too much water at one period and too little at another.A piecemeal small project approach can be more costly in the long run than amore comprehensive one. Storage and improvement of existing distributionsystems should be complementary. This means an integrated basin approachand multiyear planning. A major aspect of this approach is the coordinationof irrigation, power generation and flood control objectives. This integratedapproach should also allow the parallel development of small and large projectsand should therefore enable some project benefits to be realized rapidly.

4.03 From the project review in the previous chapter, it is evident thatpreinvestment work has not advanced to a stage where a comprehensive set ofproject priorities can be established as a basis for a full 5-year program ofnew project starts with annual phasing of expenditures. The immediatepriority is to maintain recent rates of investment and complete on-goingprojects as quickly as possible, and to identify and prepare new projectsthat are consistent with the resources and needs of the country and that willmaximize the socio-economic benefits to be derived from future investments.

4.04 The early adoption of a national water code is essential to theimproved utilization of Afghanistan's water and land resource base. A draftcode, which was circulated in May 1973, holds promise for dealing with thewater rights situation, although further study is required to determine theprecise needs in this area. The draft proposes to establish a National WaterCouncil, with the Prime Minister presiding when he deems it necessary. TheCouncil would include the Ministers of Agriculture and Irrigation, Planning,Finance, and Interior, as well as other ministers involved with particular

agenda items. 'Although the establishment of WAPA means that there is nolonger any need to establish such a Council, the reform of traditional wateruse rights through the promulgation of a water code or law remains an es-sential precondition for effective improvement of irrigation throughout thecountry.

4.05 Inadequate maintenance of irrigation facilities has long been aproblem in the Helmand-Arghandab Valley and elsewhere in Afhganistan; this islikely to persist for the foreseeable future because of the shortage of trainedand experienced technical staff. Regulations for HAVA projects, approved in1974, assign responsibility for maintenance to farmers and settlers on theproject, and require them to pay for maintenance and services that they areunable to provide themselves. This approach should be adopted on otherprojects, and at the same time efforts should continue to organize farmersinto water users' associations or similar groupings through which technicalservices can be channelled and levies and other charges collected.

ANNEX 4

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 4

AGRO-INDUSTRIES

Table of Contents

Page No.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ............................. i-ii

I. INTRODUCTION.1

II. SUGAR . .1

A. Supply and Consumption .B. Future Sugar Development .2

III. COTTON..5

A. Production and Ginning. 5B. Expansion of Ginning Facilities and Cottonseed

Processing ................................ 6C. Other Oilseed Processing ........................ 7

IV. FRUITS AND NUTS .7

A. Tree Fruits .7B. Grapes and Raisins .. ............................ 9C. Tree Nuts ......... ............................. 12

V. SERICULTURE ......................................... 13

APPENDICES

A. Producer Prices for Cotton and Sugar Beets - 1975B. Comparative Costs of Imported and Domestic SugarC. Estimated Cost of Sugar Manufacturing with New Refinery

and Satellites

ANNEX 4Page i

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 4

AGRO-INDUSTRIES

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

i. There is considerable potential for the expansion of agriculturalprocessing industries to increase the volume and export earnings ofAfghanistan's agriculture. Major opportunities for investment exist insugar, cotton and fruits and nuts.

ii. Production potential and market_prospects support a gradual expan-sion of sugar beet production and processing. Pending the results of the on-going feasibility study, production should be expanded in Baghlan and intro-duced in Herat. Consideration should be given to separation of juice extrac-tion and refining processes by the introduction of thick juice technology inbeet processing.

iii. To ensure utilization of valuable sugar by-products - beet pulp andmolasses - feed mills should be established in conjunction with existing andnew sugar factories.

iv. Considerable increases in cotton production are anticipated and ex-pansion of cotton ginning capacity by 80,000 tons to a total of 240,000 tonsis needed. Some additional investment in oil extraction capacity is also needed.

v. Annual production of pomegranates is about 20,000 tons and the trendis upward. About 75% of the crop is exported. Lower grades have been pro-cessed and the juice canned, but this product is of low quality. Recommenda-tions are made for its improvement. Apricot production is about 43,000 tonsand rising. About 40% of the crop is consumed fresh and the balance driedfor both domestic use and export. Recommendations are made for improving thequality of the dried fruit. A fruit juice concentrate plant is proposed forexport production of 5 tons per day.

vi. Fresh grape shipments to neighboring countries need stabilizingduring harvest glut periods in order to prevent depressed prices. Construc-tion of cold storage facilities is recommended.

vii. Raisins are an important export. Annual production is about 38,000tons, of which 33,000 tons are exported (about 50% to the USSR, 18% to India,and the balance to 12 other countries). Because of uneven quality, the pricesreceived in export markets are generally below average world prices. Dryingtechniques should be improved, and two more riisin processing plants should beestablished.

ANNEX 4Page ii

viii. Almonds, walnuts and pistachios are the leading kinds of nuts grown.In recent years nut exports have exceeded US$12 million, with a large percent-age being in-shell nuts. Export revenue could be increased by more than 50%if shelled nuts were exported. Two nut-packing plants are recommended, inKandahar and Kabul, for production of 3,000 tons of nut kernels each.

ix. The silk industry is just beginning to develop. The Governmentshould give it strong support because of its potential for increasing employment and incomes of the rural population as well as its excellent export maxket potential.

ANNEX 4Page 1

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN AFGHANISTAN

ANNEX 4

AGRO-INDUSTRIES

I. INTRODUCTION

1.01 Expansion and improvement of processing, manufacturing, transportand storage facilities are needed to complement the increased crop productionproposed in Annex 1. The commodities selected for emphasis are those whichfigure prominently in Afghanistan's foreign trade, either as exports or asimports, and for which major opportunities for improved or expanded processingfacilities exist.

II. SUGAR

A. Supply and Consumption

2.01 Sugar beet is grown commercially only in Baghlan. Test plots havebeen planted in Herat with satisfactory quality and yield results. The sugarbeet factory in Baghlan is run as a joint stock company largely owned by theBank Millie. The factory contracts with growers within a radius of 35 km,supplies them with seed, organizes and pays for transport of beet to thefactory, tests the beet for tare and sugar content, and pays the farmer onthe percentage of sugar (Appendix A). The factory processes the beet andstores the sugar in its own warehouse to sell to the Sugar Monopoly. Asmall quantity of molasses and limecake is sold, but the wet pulp is givenaway or dumped in the river.

2.02 Sugarcane is grown only in the subtropical area around Jalalabad.About 1,500 ha are cultivated, and production is about 25 tons per ha. About17 tons of cane are required for 1 ton of sugar. Cane is sold both fresh cutfor chewing, or processed by cottage industry into "ghur". 1/ Both fresh caneand ghur are sold in the bazaar, and reach Kabul in substantial quantities.A small cane factory, operational for 3 short campaigns, has not been in usesince 1959. The factory was designed to process about 100 tons cane per day(approximately 7-8 tons sugar in 24 hours). The cane factory is too small foreconomic operation, and should be abandoned.

1/ Concentrated juice from sugarcane solidified by evaporation.

ANNEX 4Page 2

2.03 Sugar consumption was estimated at 65,500 tons in 1969/70, and in-creased slightly to 70,000 tons in 1974/75. Using the official populationestimate of 18 million for 1975, annual consumption per capita appears to beless than 4 kg, among the lowest in the world. During the past 5 years, 85%of the white centrifugal sugar used in Afghanistan was supplied by the USSR.Insignificant supplies were imported from other countries, mostly as confec-tionary. The remainder came from the Baghlan Sugar Factory. In addition torefined sugar, some 2,200 tons sugar equivalent were derived from "ghur" pro-duced locally and from cane eaten fresh.

2.04 Imports from the USSR, negotiated annually, at 670 barter dollarsper ton at the border are the cheapest international supplies available inAfghanistan. World market prices are considerably higher (about US$700-800per ton). Sugar is delivered at the border to the Afghan Government's SugarMonopoly (absorbed in 1974 into the Petroleum Monopoly), and the Sugar Monopolyis then responsible for transport to store, and distribution from store (daily)to the retailers in the bazaars. Any profits or losses on resale accrue to theMinistry of Finance. Transport is contracted from the Government's GeneralTransport Department and charged to the Monopoly at a fixed rate (approxi-mately Af 1,800 per ton-km but varying for different routes). The Monopolystores the sugar in rented warehouses and currently has a storage capacity ofabout 80,000 tons. With a total cost for USSR sugar of Af 41,920 per ton anda Sugar Monopoly sale price of Af 23,600 per ton, the Government is subsidizingimported sugar to the extent of Af 18,320 per ton. Sugar from the Baghlanplant costs the Monopoly only Af 15,080 per ton (Appendix B), thus allowing amargin of profit.

B. Future Sugar Development

General Strategy

2.05 Afghanistan's minimum sugar requirement for 1979/80 is estimated at98,000 tons, and for 1981/82 112,500 tons. As it appears unlikely that theUSSR will continue to supply Afghanistan with cheap sugar in the future, sup-plies will have to be purchased on the world market at prices higher thanthose of the past.

2.06 To reduce the dependence on imported sugar, the Government is explor-ing the possibilities of constructing new sugar factories in Baghlan, Herat,Kandahar, Jalalabad and Sardeh. These factories would have a rated capacityof 120,000 tons of sugar beet per year. Production at 90% of capacity (108,000tons) would yield an average of 13,000 tons of sugar per year for each plant.

2.07 Although current yields are rather low, growing conditions in manyregions of the country are very suitable for the cultivation of sugar beet.With adequate water supply and some improvements in husbandry practices andfertilizer use, satisfactory yields should be readily obtainable and sugarbeet should be able to offer farmers returns comparable to those from cotton.

ANNEX 4Page 3

There is therefore a good case for increasing the production of sugar beetand consequently for expanding the beet processing capacity. These are, how-ever, major organizational problems in developing new areas of sugar beetoultivation, and the introduction of this crop would add substantially to thedemand for scarce summer water supplies. The dispersed nature of much of theirrigated land may also create diff-iu-leties in deve:loping new areas of pro-duction. Finally, substantial capital costs are involved in expansion ofbeet production, both at the farmer level and in the construction of a factory.For these reasons, it would be preferable for the Government to proceed grad-ually with its proposed expansion of domestic sugar production. Instead ofattempting to develop the five new factories that would be necessary toachieve self-sufficiency, the expansion of production in Baghlan and thedevelopment of one new area of production would be reasonable targets forthe forthcoming seven-year plan.

2.08 A feasibility study for development of new sugar factories is cur-rently being prepared, financed by the Kuwait Development Fund. This studyis concentratiMg on expansion of production in Baghlan and construction ofa new factory in Herat. On the assumption that the study supports the feas-ibility of proceeding with these two projects, they should be the basis ofthe sugar development program over the next seven years. However, in design-ing the type of plant to be established, serious consideration should be givento separating the extraction and refining operations through the constructionof a central refining plant and four satellite thick juice factories. Thiswould have the advantage of allowing the central plant to work for a far longerperiod and would be well suited to the scattered production pattern that pre-vails in Afghanistan. As this technology does not at present exist inAfghanistan, its basic elements are outlined in the following paragraphs.

Technology Alternatives

2.09 Under conventional technology, sugar factory utilization is limitedto about 100 days per year by the poor storage characteristics of sugar beets.Juice must be extracted from the beets and converted to sugar within;a shorttime after the beets are harvested. These two distinct technological opera-tions are carried out in a single plant with conventional technology! Theinvestment in plant and equipment is about equally divided between the twooperations. The equipment for juice extraction is greater in quantity butless sophisticated and costly compared with that for refining the juice intowhite sugar. Equipment required for both stages is listed in order of theprocessing steps:

ANNEX 4Page 4

Extraction Refining

1. Beet Washer 11. Boiler2. Beet Slicers 12. Electric Generator and3. Weighing Device Automatic Controls4. Juice Diffuser -- Pulp 13. Juice Maker5. Lime 14. Vacuum Pans6. Juice Carbonators 15. Centrifugals7. Filter 16. Granulators8. Sulphitation 17. Sugar Bagging9. Boiler 18. Weighing Plant

10. Evaporators - Purified Thick Juice

2.10 It is possible, however, to perform these operations in separateplants. Just as in the conventional operation, the first stage must have acapacity and investment in proportion to the quantity of sugar beets harvestedfor processing. If, however, the purified and thickened juice from the firststage is stored in tanks, the second or refining stage requires only one-thirdthe daily capacity of the first stage. That is to say, a 100-day campaign inthe first stage will produce enough sugar juice to run a second-stage refineryfor 300 days by introducing a 200-day thick juice storage capacity. More im-portant from the point of view of Afghan conditions, stages 1 and 2 need nolonger be concentrated in a single location, and stage 1 facilities can bescaled down into a number of smaller facilities to match the location and landavailability of widely dispersed agricultural areas. A centrally located stage2 refinery would receive thick juice from a number of stage 1 satellite fac-tories, which may be located as much as 200 km distant.

2.11 Satellite factories must be designed specifically for a particularproject. Juice extraction equipment is standard and the process well known,but equipment must be properly scaled so each piece will function effectivelyand economically with the others. The satellites could each process 54,000tons of beet during a 100-day campaign into 9,500 tons of thick juice equiv-alent to 6,500 tons of white sugar. Each satellite should be equipped withstorage capacity sufficient to hold this output. A 100-day campaign at beetharvest time by four satellites would produce enough sugar juice to run centralfacility for 200 days in addition to the central plant's regular 100-day campaign.Thus, in a 300-day operation the output of a central plant would be 39,000 tonsof white sugar, or three times that of a conventional single plant.

2.12 The capital investment requirement for a sugar factory complex witha total output of 39,000 tons of white sugar is estimated at Af 1,100 million(US$20 million). Not included in this estimate are feed mills or electricpower generating equipment that may be required, or costs related to improve-ments of land, irrigation works and roads. The extent of added improvementscan only be determined after studies have been made for each factory site.The construction of a sugar complex along these lines should be consideredif and when the proposed sugar factory at Herat is designed.

ANNEX 4Page 5

2.13 The second location being considered for future investment is Baghlan.Expansion of the existing sugar factory would not appear to be feasible as itwould need to be completely redesigned. Built in 1938 and enlarged in 1965,its design is conventional for the period in which it was constructed. Thediffuser is of the batch type and is now obsolete, with diffusion losses onthe order of 0.5% beet sugar; this could be reduced to 0.25% with a continuousdiffuser. The system of juice clarification with lime, first and second carbon-ation, and sulphitation with interstage filtration, is conventional. Alsoconventional are the evaporation, sugar boiling and massecuite processes.Operating on a 100-day basis, the plant can handle a nominal 80,000 tons ofbeets for an estimated output of 9,600 tons of sugar annually. The qualityof the sugar produced is adequate for domestic use.

2.14 It might be feasible, however, to expand output from the existingfactory by utilizing some of the 66% idle refining capacity by introducingthick juice technology. To begin receiving benefits in the near future itwould be necessary to expand sugar beet cultivation to 13,000 ha from thepresent 5,000 ha and to construct 3 satellite juice factories with the requiredstorage facilities. Cultivation could be developed as far as 200 km from Baghlanas long as 2,000 to 2,500 ha can be farmed in close proximity (estimate 30 km)to a thick juice satellite factory and roads are available or could be builtto move the beets and thick juice economically. All-weather roads should extendto within 2 km of small production units and right up to larger units able toload 10 tons of beets at a time. The roads should be built to carry at least10-ton vehicle traffic.

2.15 Whatever technology is utilized for future sugar factories, effortsshould be made to ensure that greater use than in the past is made of the by-products. Sugar beet pulp, a by-product of the sugar juice extraction process,is a valuable livestock feed component, and molasses from the sugar refiningprocess is also a valuable additive. The addition of cottonseed oilcake andcottonseed hulls, both of which are available in Afghanistan, should providea base for preparing a concentrated livestock feed. It is therefore recom-mended that a feed mill with a capacity of about 2,500 tons per year be in-cluded with each central plant or satellite. The feed mills would cost anestimated Af 15 million (US$280,000) each.

III. COTTON

A. Production and Ginning

3.01 Cotton is a potentially important source of foreign exchange earningsor savings. In earlier years growth of the industry was constrained becausethe earnings of both growers and processor-exporters were significantly reducedby export taxes and differential exchange rates. The foreign exchange surrenderrequirement at a depressed rate has now been abolished by the Government andproducer prices have been increased. This has resulted in expansion of produc-tion to around 150,000 tons of seed cotton annually. At this level of produc-

ANNEX 4Page 6

tion, the total cotton ginning capacity of the country, which amounts to about160,000 tons of seed cotton operating on a 3-shift basis 150 days a year, isvirtually fully utilized.

3.02 Altogether there are seven ginning companies, the largest of which isthe Spinzar Cotton Company operating in the provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan andTalaquan, which produce about 55% of total cotton output. The area of Mazar-i-Sharif, which includes Balkh, Jozjan and other northwestern provinces, sup-plies about 30% of production and has 4 ginning companies. Another 10% isgrown in the Herat area where one gin is located. The remaining 5% is grownin the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar with the ginning facility locatedin Lashkargah. Cottonseed oil extraction and refining capacity amounts toabout 20,000 tons per year on a 300-day basis.

3.03 Cotton prices, which are controlled by Government, were raised in1973/74 and again in 1974/75 (see Annex A). The actual prices which farmersreceive for seed cotton are usually lower than the prices fixed by the Gov-ernment on the basis of deliveries to the gins. The gins are located atconsiderable distance from most farms and many growers sell at farmgate eitherto buyers from the ginneries or to middlemen. Prices paid for seed cotton atfarmgate vary widely, reflecting differences in farm-to-gin transportationcharges. The difference between prices paid at the gins and prices paid atfarmgate averages about Af 10 per seer in the Kunduz area, Af 5 per seer inthe Mazar-i-Sharif area, Af 1 per seer in the Helmand Valley, and zero inHerat. It is general practice for the ginneries to supply seed to the growerswithout charge. Fertilizer on credit is usually advanced, with payment delayeduntil the producer delivers his cotton to the gin. The quantities of seed andfertilizer provided are related to the amount of cotton the individual farmeragrees to plant.

B. Expansion of Ginning Facilities and Cottonseed Processing

3.04 With the anticipated increase in cotton production, it will be ne-cessary to expand national ginning capacity from its present 160,000 tons toabout 240,000 tons of seed cotton by the end of the Seven-Year Plan (1982/83).The increase in ginning capacity needed for each zone would most likely be:Kunduz 79,000 to 105,000 tons; Mazar-i-Sharif 53,000 to 79,000 tons; Herat10,000 to 20,000 tons; and Lashkargah/Helmand 18,000 to 36,000 tons.

3.05 To handle the projected increase in production of seed cotton inthe Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif areas, one new ginning facility in each zoneshould be established by 1980. Each ginning plant should have a capacity of30,000 tons of seed cotton annually, operating 150 days on a 3 shift basis.One of the new ginneries should be equipped with seed crushing and oil refin-ing equipment with a capacity to process 10 tons of cottonseed per hour. Theone oil extraction facility would, therefore, have the capacity to processthe cottonseed from the 2 ginning plants with a 250 day, 16 hour per dayoperation. Total investment is estimated at Af 190 million (US$3.5 million).

ANNEX 4Page 7

3.06 The Herat ginning plant will need to double its present capacity of10,000 tons to 20,000 tons of seed cotton by adding two gins. The present oilextraction and refining capacity should be adequate for the increased output.The investment requirement is estimated at Af 16.5 million (US$300,000).

3.07 Over the past two years, cotton production in the Helmand Valleyhas substantially increased, exceeding the 18,000 ton capacity of the oneginning facility. It is recommended, therefore, that the ginning capacityof the Lashkargah plant be expanded from its present annual capacity of18,000 tons in two stages to 36,000 tons by the addition of four gins.Existing facilities for seed crushing and oil refining are adequate for hand-ling the projected maximum seed output of the ginning plant. Total additionalinvestment would be around Af 39 million (US$700,000) for the four gins, notincluding expenditures for plant building alteration and expansion needed forhousing the new gins.

C. Other Oilseed Processing

3.08 Except for cottonseed oil, there is no commercial production ofvegetable oil in the country. Other oilseeds, i.e. flax, sesame and caraway,are exported without processing. Flax seed is by far the major oilseed export,with sesame and caraway exported in smaller quantities. Special equipment isrequired for processing flax seed and it is believed that processing the seedand exporting the oil would not be economically feasible. Experimental workis underway with production of sunflowers. Significant quantities of sunflowerseeds are available, and they could be processed in the available cottonseedprocessing facilities in order to meet all or most of the domestic requirementsfor vegetable oil.

IV. FRUITS AND NUTS

A. Tree Fruits

4.01 Tree fruit production has recently been expanding in several areas,including Kandahar, Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Maidan and Jalalabad. Althoughdemand for various kinds of deciduous fruit is increasing, the domesticmarket is limited and increased exports will be essential to maintain,rapidgrowth in production. The most important deciduous tree fruits grown are thepomegranate, apricot, apple and plum, with production increasing rapidly forall of these.

Pomegranates

4.02 Pomegranate production is concentrated in Kandahar. Annual produc-tion is 17,000 to 20,000 tons, and is increasing at about 5% per year. About75% of the total crop is exported. Approximately 70% of export shipments are

ANNEX 4Page 8

to India, with the balance going to Pakistan, the USSR and some Middle Easterncountries. Producer prices average about Af 6 per kg, which is approximately45% of the export value. There are no official grades, although some producersgrade their fruit into three sizes and qualities.

4.03 In past years some lower grades were processed by the KandaharFruit Company into a single strength juice and canned. This juice was ofpoor quality, having an insipid flavor and a dark greyish, unappetizing color.Most of it was sold to the USSR, which is no longer interested in purchasingthis product. With improved processing techniques, a good quality, singlestrength pomegranate juice can be produced that would be acceptable indiscerning foreign markets. It is therefore recommended that the processingfacilities be improved to produce an export-grade juice and jelly by-product.

Apricots

4.04 Apricot production has noticeably expanded in the provinces ofKandahar and Kabul in the past five years. Annual production is about 43,000tons. The average producer price ranges from about Af 4 to Af 5 per kg.About 40% of fresh apricots are consumed in the domestic market and only verysmall quantities are exported. The balance of the crop is dried for both thedomestic and export markets. Annual exports of dried apricots have been in-creasing and are now over 2,000 tons. Shipments go to the USSR, India,Pakistan, the U.K., Lebanon, and other Middle Eastern countries. The qual-ity of the dried fruit is very poor, and prices are correspondingly low.One small private drying operation (producing 25 tons per year) utilizesrecommended drying practices, but all others use antiquated and primitivemethods that turn out low grade dried apricots from good quality fresh ones.

4.05 An intensive promotion and extension effort is needed to introducethe up-to-date handling and drying practices which would result in substan-tially increased export earnings. An investment of about US$30,000 would berequired for sulphuring chambers and drying trays or mats for production of1,000 tons annually of properly prepared dried apricots. The drying facil-ities would have a 5-year life expectancy, which means an actual investmentof US$60 per ton of dried fruit. In the export market, the present low-gradeproduct is sold at a price ranging from US$350 to 400 per ton; the price foran improved product would range between US$900 and 1,300 per ton.

Apples

4.06 Most of Afghanistan's increasing production of apples is being ab-sorbed by the domestic market. Total apple production is estimated at 70,000tons. The producer price ranges from Af 4 to Af 10 per kg. Recently exportshave ranged from 1,500 to more than 2,000 tons a year and the export pricehas ranged from Af 17 to Af 25 per kg. There are no apple processing orpacking facilities in Afghanistan, and until such time as production is sub-stantially increased, establishment of such facilities is not recommended.

ANNEX 4Page 9

Fruit Juice Concentration

4.07 The establishment of a plant is recomnmended for producing fruit juiceconcentrates from pomegranates, grapes, apricots, plums and cherries. Theconcentrates would be mostly for export, for use in reconstituted fruit juicedrinks, toppings, spirits, cordials and jellies. Food manufacturing firms inIndia have shown an interest in importing fruit juice concentrates fromAfghanistan, and Western Europe would also be a suitable market.

4.08 The proposed plant should have a capacity of 5 tons of concentratesper 10 hour day derived from an input of 15 to 20 tons of fresh fruits. Itwould be most economic if the equipment required for fruit juice concentrateswere installed in the existing Kandahar Fruit Company plant as an adjunct tothe present fruit juice extracting and processing facilities. The investmentrequired would be about US$400,000. The Kandahar plant has an adequate supplyof electricity and steam power. Additional juice extracting equipment wouldbe required for handling the different kinds of fruits. Filling and sealingequipment will also need to be provided. The annual output of concentratewould be about 600 tons. At an average price of US$0.75 per kg, the annualexport revenue would amount to US$450,000.

B. Grapes and Raisins

4.09 The production and marketing of table grapes and raisins is an im-portant industry. About 64,000 ha are devoted to grape production in spe-cialized areas of the country, the most important being the Kohdaman Valley,Kandahar, Logar, Ghazni and some districts north of the Salang pass. Totalannual production of grapes is estimated at 240,000 tons.

4.10 Afghanistan produces some 45 different varieties of grapes. Thekishmishi type is the most important. It is a seedless, medium-sized grape,greenish to golden in color and is the same as the Thompson Seedless ofCalifornia and the sultana of Australia. It is an excellent table griape,but a poor shipper. On the other hand, it produces excellent raisins. Othervarieties of the seeded type are mostly good shippers as table grapes, butdo not produce raisins of desirable quality.

Grapes

4.11 Fresh grapes are sold in all Afghan cities and towns, with Kabulbeing the most important domestic market. Major exports of fresh grapes goto India and Pakistan. Kohdaman and Kandahar are the only areas that furnishfresh grapes for export. Table grapes are exported to Pakistan with no re-strictions on quantities, and payment is generally effected through bartering.The main markets of Pakistan can be reached by truck within 12 to 18 hours.

ANNEX 4Page 10

4.12 Table grape trade with India, however, is hampered by several re-strictions and transport difficulties. Trade agreements place limitationseach year on quantities of fresh grapes exported. Transit to India throughPakistan is subject to regulations which require transferring grapes fromAfghan trucks to Pakistani trucks and finally to Indian trucks at the Indianborder. These cargo transfers cause considerable delay and often result inspoilage which at times amounts to 40%. Day-to-day prices for grapes mayvary widely in the New Delhi market, caused by the uneven rate of arrival.Of total annual fresh grape shipments to India of 20,000 to 25,000 tons,about 20% are lost from spoilage due to non-removal of field heat at timeof packing, poor and excessive handling, and transport delays. About 10%of all fresh grape shipments to Pakistan also arrive in poor or unusablecondition.

4.13 To improve and expand the marketing of Afghan table grapes, emphasisshould be given to:

(i) Further development of the Pakistani market, since tonnagequotas are not a constraint.

(ii) Negotiations with the Government of India to increase tonnagequotas and to liberalize trade conditions for fresh grapes.

(iii) Improved transit agreements for grapes being shipped toPakistan and India.

(iv) Expeditious customs clearances to avoid transit delays.

4.14 A further improvement in marketing of fresh grapes, as well as otherfruits and vegetables, would be cold storage facilities. The establishmentof a cold storage plant with an initial holding capacity of 3,000 tons offresh produce, which later could be expanded to 6,000 tons, is recommended.The investment requirement would be about US$2.2 million. The proposed facil-ity should be located in Kabul, preferably adjacent to the Kabul customs alongthe highway to Jalalabad.

4.15 This store would be used for storage of fresh produce, especiallytable grapes, during harvest periods in order to control truck shipments on adaily schedule to prevent the depressing of market prices in Pakistan and India.Grape prices have fluctuated as mu'ch as 25% from one day to the next duringglut periods, and have declined as much as 100% from the beginning of the harvestseason to the glut period. Storage for other farm products would also be avail-able in order to extend the period perishable products would be available onthe domestic market.

Raisins

4.16 Raisin production is concentrated in Kabul (52%), North Salang (28%),and Kandahar (20%). Total annual production is about 38,000 tons, of whichsome 32,000 tons are exported. About 90% of exports are of the sultana(kishmishi) variety; about 65% of sultanas are sun dried (red raisins) and

ANNEX 4Page 11

about 35% are shade dried (green raisins). The sultana-type grape producesan excellent raisin which when properly prepared is competitive in qualitywith the product of the major sultana-producing countries. The remainderof the raisin exports are seeded varieties.

4.17 Afghanistan accounts for 8-10% of the world's total raisin exports.The USSR is the main market for Afghan raisins, purchasing about 50% of totalexports; India imports about 18%; and the balance is distributed among severalother countries. Export prices of Afghan raisins in convertible currency areasare US$100-300 per ton lower than those of other exporting countries. Theselower prices will persist until Afghanistan adopts and enforces quality andgrading standards that are reliable and in conformity with the requirementsof importing countries. Export prices of Afghan raisins presently rangefrom US$750 to US$950 per ton CIF. Prices under bilateral, barter or con-trolled currency agreements generally follow the world market, although qual-ity standards may not be as rigid.

4.18 There are nine raisin cleaning, grading and packing plants with atotal estimated output of 30,000 tons annually from an estimated raisin pro-duction of 38,000 tons. These plants are located as follows: three in Kabul,three in Charikar, two in Mazar-i-Sharif, and one in Kandahar. One of theplants (in Kabul) was established in 1963; the others have been in operationsince 1966.

4.19 Processing operations consist of removing stems and other foreignmatter, sizing, washing, sorting, inspection and packaging. Raisins are ofuneven quality, since a large proportion is produced from leftovers after thebest grapes have been sold for the fresh market. Uneven quality plus an ab-normal amount of field trash, dirt and dust limit what can be done in process-ing to produce quality raisins. In many instances it is impossible to cleanand sort the raisins to meet certain buyer standards, resulting in lowerprices to farmers as well as below average returns in international trade.

4.20 To maximize returns from raisin sales in world markets, it is there-fore imperative for farmers to improve raisin quality. Raisin quality wouldbe greatly improved if grapes were dried on woven reed mats instead of on thebare ground. This is a simple and least costly method of protecting raisinsfrom the soil. There is also the advantage that occasional rainfall doeslittle harm to the drying grapes because the rain passes through the mats.Another advantage is that the mats allow a slight ventilation so that dryingtime is shortened.

4.21 Most of the raisin processors are faced with acute seasonal short-ages of operating capital. Plants often shut down for days because ofllowinventories--lack of raw materials, packing additives and packaging material.AgBank or IDBA should be a source of operating capital for processors to op-erate in an orderly manner. The Government has received applications fromthe private sector for licenses to establish 5 or 6 new raisin packing plants.Until such time as raisin production is substantially increased, approvalshould be granted only for establishment of 2 new plants: one in Herat having2,000 ton annual capacity, and one in Kandahar with 3,000 ton capacity. Totalinvestment required is estimated at US$75,000.

ANNEX 4Page 12

C. Tree Nuts

4.22 The three most important nuts are almonds, walnuts and pistachios;annual production is estimated at 15,000 tons, 12,000 tons, and 4,500 tons,respectively. Production areas are widely dispersed. Exports of walnuts inthe shell have increased consistently in recent years, but exports of almondsand pistachios have been somewhat erratic, with no discernible growth pattern.The major export markets are the USSR, India, Pakistan, Lebanon and the U.S.In recent years the total revenue from nut exports has exceeded US$12 million,with almonds accounting for about US$5 million and the balance evenly dividedbetween walnuts and pistachios. About 85% of edible nut exports are in-shell.Since prices are low, the principal importers have been content to receivethese in-shell nuts unbleached, ungraded and poorly packaged. Upon arrivalat their foreign destination, the nuts are shelled, cleaned, graded andpackaged for retail outlets.

4.23 The consensus of merchant-exporters is that shelling, grading,cleaning and packaging are all necessary to meet the developing competitionfrom other sources in Afghanistan's traditional markets. The cost of shell-ing is more than offset by savings in shipping costs. The revenue expectedfrom export of shelled nuts would be more than 50% above present returnsfrom sale of the same quantity of in-shell nuts. Also, adoption of provenpackaging techniques will undoubtedly be an important factor in meeting com-petition in world trade.

4.24 Facilities for cleaning, grading and proper packaging of nuts donot exist in Afghanistan. A preliminary feasibility report prepared for theMinistry of Commerce in 1965 recommended the establishment of two completefacilities, one in Kandahar and one in Kabul. 1/ The report proposed thateach plant would receive 6,650 tons of in-shell nuts for an output of 3,000tons of processed and packaged nuts. The 6,650 tons of in-shell nuts havean export value estimated at US$5.8 million, while the export value of theshelled nuts is estimated at US$8.3 million. Savings estimated at US$200,000in transport costs could be realized by exporting shelled nuts. The proposalincluded in-shell nut grading and shelling equipment for a completely mecha-nized operation. It is now recommended that the two proposed plants not beequipped with this machinery, but only with nut kernel cleaning, grading andpackaging machinery capable of processing 3,000 tons of nut meats at each plant.

4.25 The shelling operation for the limited volume of shelled nuts ex-ported is done manually, usually by women, children and older men assembledin village work rooms or by individual families in their homes. The familiesare allowed to retain a predetermined percentage (usually about 5%) of brokenkernels which they use for food. They keep all the shells for fuel, and arepaid from Af 1 to 3 per kg based on the quality of nuts shelled. This activ-ity, which provides rural families a means of augmenting incomes, food and

1/ John L. Perry, Report on Nut Shelling ana Packing Plant, Almond-Walnut-Pistachio, December 1965.

ANNEX 4Page 13

fuel supplies, should not be changed. The proposed plants should be designedto handle mainly already shelled nuts. For handling in-shell nuts destinedfor export, it would be advisable to install in each plant equipment for wholenut sizing, cleaning, bleaching and packaging.

4.26 All parties concerned with development of these projects shouldrealize that to establish a plant with capacity for handling a large portionof an area's production could adversely affect the trade of some of themerchant-exporters. To reduce the effect of such a change, it would beadvisable to invite these merchant-exporters to participate financially inthe new plants. These merchants should also have processing rights in theplants on a commission basis. This would be highly desirable as a means ofensuring that all nut exports are properly graded and packaged in conformancewith recognized standards.

4.27 It is recommended that the Kandahar nut packing operation be incor-porated with the Kandahar Fruit Company plant, where existing services facil-ities and skilled personnel could be used. Investment required to establishthree production lines would be about US$300,000. The plant at Kabul wouldbe a new one, and would cost around US$500,000. Ideally, it should be estab-lished as a joint venture financed through IDBA or AgBank.

V. SERICULTURE

5.01 Afghanistan has a long history of silk production, but only recent-ly have more modern methods of production been introduced. The provinces ofHerat and Mazar-i-Sharif have been the main centers of production, withKabul being a latecomer to the scene. MA, in its current limited programfor developing sericulture, has been receiving valuable technical assistancefrom the People's Republic of China. The volume of production has almostdoubled in the past two years.

5.02 No statistics are available on the total mulberry area, productionof leaves per ha, or the number of families engaged in producing silkworms.Primitive methods are being used for producing raw silk, and silk fabrics arehand-woven. No mechanical equipment is available for grading and processingcocoons, and silk reeling also is not mechanized. The cocoon production ismostly exported and for the current year revenue is expected to exceedUS$750,000.

5.03 It is recommended that Afghanistan give high priority to expandingits sericulture industry. Agronomic conditions are suitable for growingmulberry; and peak labor requirements do not overlap with wheat and cottonproduction. The industry is well adapted to Afghan rural areas, providingemployment for seasonally under-utilized family labor and serving as a meansof increasing family income. With production declining in Japan and Italybecause of increasing labor shortages and rising labor costs, and given thefavorable international market conditions, there is considerable export po-tential for Afghanistan's silk.

ANNEX 4Page 14

5.04 Before introducing a program for rapid expansion of sericulture,MA should make a thorough study of the silk industry in South Korea andJapan, since Afghanistan will no doubt be faced with many of the problemsthat were encountered in the development of the highly successful industryin these two countries.

ANNEX 4Appendix A

PRODUCER PRICES FOR COTTON AND SUGAR BEETS - 1975

Cotton

Grade Price per Seer Price per kg-------------- Af -------------

1 180 15.42 105 15.03 96 13.7

Weighted averagefor 3 grades 105 15.0

Sugar Beets

Sugar Content Price per Ton

M -- (Af)

13.9 78514.9 85715.9 92816.9 1,00017.9 1,07118.9 1,14219.9 1.,214

Over 19.9 1,282

ANNEX 4Appendix B

COMPARATIVE COSTS OF IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC SUGAR

CostsImports USSR Barter Af per Ton

$ per Ton

Current Price Landed Afghan Border 670 40,200Customs Duty 30Afghan Port Authorities and Transfer Fees 200Transport to Baghlan Store 540Cost Delivered Baghlan 40,970Administrative Costs of Sugar Monopoly 400Additional Transport and Distribution 550

Total Cost Sugar ex-USSR/1 41h 920

Production from Baghlan FactoryCost ex-Factory Warehouse 14,130Administrative Costs of Sugar Monopoly h4oAdditional Transport and Distribution 550

Total 15,080

Sale Price to Retailers 23,600

Retail (controlled) Selling Price 24,000

/1 Excludes import duty of Af 2,000 per ton and 2.5% commission to state-owned transport. Both charges revert for use by Afghanistan.

ESTIMATED COST OF SUGAR MANUFACTURING WITH NEW REFINERY AND SATELLITES

Beet Purchase and Operating Rate AssumptionsItem Unit 60% cap. 70% cap. 80% cap. 90% cap.

194,000 tons 227,000 tons 260,000 tons 324,000 tons

Operating CostBeet (Af 870 per ton) Af -'000 168,700 197,500 226,200 281,800Materials Af '000 14,900 17,300 19,700 24,700Seed (estimated) Af '000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000Transport Af '000 16,870 19,750 22,620 28,200Personnel Af '000 21,000 22,200 25,300 31,500Spares Af 'OOO 7,000 9,000 11,000 14,000

Subtotal Af '000 236,470 275,750 316,820 394,200

Interest on Working Capital Af '000 4,700 5,500 6,200 7,800

Depreciation Af '000 72,000 72,000 72,000 72,000

Total Operating Costs Af '000 313,170 353,250 395,020 474,000

Plus 15% Profit Allowed Af '000 46,900 52,980 59,300 7,100

Cost of Sugar to Government Af '000 360,070 406,230 454,320 481,100

Sugar Produced '000 tons 23.4 27.3 31.2 39.0

Cost per ton Sugarplus 10% Contingency Af 16,918 16,390 16,016 13,575

CD

M-s N