The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) on Wednesday said that it carries out more than 300 research programs every year that are aimed at improving and expanding agriculture in the country.

Officials said that every year more than 300 tons of wheat is cultivated on farms in the country .

Meanwhile a number of investors have said that MAIL’s efforts regarding the improvement of the sector in Afghanistan has not been visible despite the fact that the ministry has a lot of land on these research farms.

Agriculture investors said that government should take firm steps to develop the agriculture sector in the country and to attract more investment.

They said however that agriculture investors have not been provided with sufficient resources, including land. They also said government lacked the capacity to carry out comprehensive research projects on their land.

“If government gives this land to the private sector, I assure you that Afghanistan will become self-reliant in the agriculture sector as 80 percent of the people in our country are associated with agriculture and the majority of the land in Afghanistan is suitable for agriculture,” said Baz Mohammad Arghandiwal, an Afghan agriculture investor.

But, MAIL  said that it is taking full advantage of the research farms.

“Major research was conducted over recent years; about 935 types of fruits, such as apricot, peach, cherry and plum, and other types of saplings and fruits were studied and then introduced to farmers. Currently, whenever we establish new gardens or plant saplings for our farmers, these are those saplings which are grown and researched about at these farms,” said Lotfullah Rashid, spokesman for MAIL.

According to the ministry, currently there are around 17 research farms - in Kabul, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Balkh, Herat, Samangan and Paktia provinces.