Afghan farmers turn to strawberry planting due to opium ban

Afghanistan's Kandahar, Helmand and Zabul provinces have always been at the center of the world's opium and later heroin trade. Opium cultivation has been banned, but this is not the first time. In Afghanistan's war-filled history, almost every government has worked for similar practices. The problems faced by the country's leaders for years are that the country's backward mountain regions lack alternative livelihoods and the profits from the drug trade are far greater than those obtained through legal means. Agriculture official Mohammad Allah Nuri said the opium ban will force farmers to look for alternatives, and local agriculture officials will support this. Nuri added that some farmers in Kandahar have switched to beekeeping and honey production. MOHAMMAD ALLAH NURI, Agriculture official: "If the agricultural authorities support the farmers, strawberries can be a viable alternative to opium. We have planted more than 20 hectares (strawberries) in the last three years and this ...