Afghanistan's wheat production up 10% in 2024

By the end of October 2024, Afghanistan's wheat production was 4.83 million metric tons, up 10% year-on-year, the National Authority for Statistics and Information of the Islamic Emirate reported, RIA Novosti reported. This growth comes amid a serious humanitarian crisis affecting more than 23 million Afghans who continue to suffer from poverty and food insecurity. Remote sensing technologies and satellite imagery were used to estimate the area under cultivation in the solar year 1403 (which began on March 21, 2024), the agency reported. The total area under wheat cultivation in the country was 12.2 million hectares, accounting for about 70% of Afghanistan's total agricultural land. According to the agency, over the past year, the area of irrigated land has increased by 2.8%, while the area under rainfed farming has increased by 8.2%. The main reasons for this increase were timely seasonal rains and farmers switching from opium poppy to wheat. The main irrigated areas for wheat ...