Farmers in Herat province say this year’s corn harvest has suffered significantly due to shortages of water and chemical fertilizers, with many fields producing poor yields. The farmers are calling on aid organizations to help address these issues.
“Our corn fields dried up because we didn’t have water this year, and all our wells dried up as well,” said Abdul Karim, a farmer in Herat. Abdul Sattar, another farmer, echoed the concern: “There was no water this year, and all our fields were ruined. We struggled greatly this year due to water issues.”
Farmers added that the lack of irrigation dams compounds the problem, with hundreds of cubic meters of rainwater lost annually. “If dams are built, these problems will be solved. Drought will be alleviated, and our crops will yield good results,” said Mullah Dad, another farmer.
Despite significant rainfall in the western region, including Herat, early in the year, the absence of water storage infrastructure has left farmers struggling to meet their irrigation needs. In July, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations identified drought as the foremost challenge facing Afghanistan’s agricultural sector, describing it as a “destructive force for agriculture worldwide” on social media platform X.
