For millennia, the oasis of Kandahar has been famous for its fruits: tiny oblong Kishmish grapes, a translucent greenish-gold; the larger Ayta grapes which, according to ancient practice, are spread out on the desert floor to dry into raisins the size of dates; ruby-filled pomegranates; almonds; apricots; figs; succulent melons. Cuneiform records indicate that the tribute paid by Kandahar to Babylon was counted in grapes.
Because of the scarcity of water, all of Kandahar's orchards are irrigated. Centuries ago, using a technique now lost, local residents hewed underground aqueducts through solid rock to bring snowmelt water down from the mountains to their valley orchards. These are called "karezes." Alignments of vertical boreholes, like the mouths of volcanoes, mark their passage.
Farmers, descending these boreholes with smokeless oil lamps, clear debris and other obstructions out of the precious water's path. The district of Arghandab, the most renowned in all of Afghanistan for pomegranates, is blessed with a river. Farmers there pump water up into their tangled orchards with diesel engine-powered water pumps. Elsewhere, deep borehole wells have been drilled to reach the water table.
This sort of irrigation agriculture is particularly vulnerable to the vicissitud
es of war. Beleaguered farmers are unable to maintain karezes and machines; orchards and canal sluice gates are deliberately mined; village elders are scattered, and cannot meet to deliberate on water rights or corvees for cleaning irrigation channels.
es of war. Beleaguered farmers are unable to maintain karezes and machines; orchards and canal sluice gates are deliberately mined; village elders are scattered, and cannot meet to deliberate on water rights or corvees for cleaning irrigation channels.The Kandahar region suffered all of these things during almost non-stop fighting since 1980. On top of these trials came a seven-year drought, lasting till 2003. The region's fabled orchards were decimated.
But, amid the relative peace of the past few years, and some welcome rainfall, farmers have been planting fruit tree saplings by the thousands. It is the express goal of the Arghand Cooperative to expand the market for these legendary crops, working directly with producers so as to increase their share of the value-added revenues. We focus on traditional local crops and wild-crafted herbs, contracting as needed with local farmers to increase production of some plants whose market dried up during the war years.
Agriculture
Mounds of the famous yellow raisins for which the Kandahar region is so famous.
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