April 17, 2007, Kabul, Afghanistan – As Afghanistan strives to revive its position as a supplier of fruit and nuts to markets internally and abroad, the Global Partnership for Afghanistan (GPFA) is providing technical assistance in the collection of germplasm resources needed for the propagation of the many varieties of fruits and nuts that are native to Afghanistan.
Under the auspices of the World Bank's Horticulture and Livestock Project (HLP), staff from GPFA and Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) are working to survey sources of stock across the country which will provide the foundation of planting material for Afghan growers for the next two years. The World Bank's Horticulture and Livestock Project seeks to support nurseries producing 5 million saplings and 5,000 hectares of new orchards.
GPFA and MAIL teams are identifying stock for budding or cuttings in 2007. These planting materials will provide nursery growers with budwood, graftwood and cuttings of reliably named fruit and nut varieties that are tested for known viruses, pests and diseases.
Working in 7 provinces across the country, GPFA and MAIL will identify and mark reference trees of each named variety. From each tree, GPFA will facilitate virus testing of wood and supply material to the MAIL and European Commission Perennial Horticulture Development Project for cleaning and for planting reference collections and foundation stock.
Rupert Knowles, Country Director of GPFA, said, "This project represents an important foundation for a number of much larger collaborative efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, the World Bank, the European Commission and USAID. Working together, these organizations, GPFA, and other agencies are striving to ensure that Afghan farmers can capitalize on the country's rich horticultural diversity to rebuild an industry that once supplied a significant share of the country's income and exports.
"We are starting by locating and collecting specimens of 20 cultivars of healthy, "true-to-type" almond, apricot, pomegranate and grape specimens that were identified by horticultural and marketing experts along with a short list of rootstocks. Other cultivars may be added during the project."