GHAZNI — Farmers in Ghazni Province say they are witnessing an unusually high yield of tomatoes this season, but prices have plummeted amid weak domestic demand and a lack of access to regional export markets.
Among those affected is Abu Zar, a young farmer who has rented 20 beswah (about 2,800 square meters) of land on the outskirts of Ghazni city to build a greenhouse for tomato cultivation. Despite the strong harvest, he says the costs of production — including fertilizers, water, pesticides, and rent — far outweigh the meager returns from sales.
“There’s a lot of effort involved,” Abu Zar said. “But when we take the produce to market, they buy it for almost nothing. After selling, we can’t even recover our expenses — the fertilizer, water, and land rent.”
Like many others in the province, Abu Zar says he has received no assistance from agricultural agencies or relevant public institutions.
Other farmers echoed similar concerns. Hussein, another grower in Ghazni, said they are selling top-quality tomatoes for as little as 15 Afghanis per kilogram. “The markets are terrible,” he said. “It’s not worth it for us anymore.”
Some said their profits have dropped to just one or two Afghanis per kilogram after deducting all costs. “By God, the crops we harvest are sold so cheap, we make almost nothing,” said Muslim, another farmer. “There is no market.”
Ghazni, located in central Afghanistan, is known for its extensive greenhouse farming — particularly of cucumbers and tomatoes. But farmers say the lack of cold storage facilities and efficient distribution channels continues to undercut their ability to fetch fair prices. Many are now forced to sell produce in local markets at deeply discounted rates before it spoils.
As economic conditions worsen across the country, farmers warn that without investment in infrastructure and market access, bumper harvests may do little to improve rural livelihoods.
